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SHARPLESS MINIATURE (^F WASHINGTON, 1795 



The 1 rue 
George Washington 



By 

Paul Leicester Ford 

Author of •' The Honorable Peter Stirling" 

Editor of ** The Writings of Thomas Jefferson'* and 

**The Sayings of Poor Richard" 



"That I have foibles, and perhaps many of them, I 
■hall not deny. I should esteem myself, as the world 
would, vain and empty, were I to arrogate perfection." 
— iVashin£^on 

" Speak of me as I am ; nothing extenuate, nor set 
down aught in maXict." —Shakespeart 



Philadelphia 
J. B. Lippincoft Company 






Copyright, 1896 

BY 

J. B. LiPEiNcoTT Company 



7 iVEXTIETII IMPRESSIoy 



i 



ELEOTHOTYPiO AND PRINTED MY J. B. LlPPINCOTT COMPANY, PmiLAOELPHIA, U.8. 



Note 

In every country boasting a history there may be 
observed a tendency to make its leaders or great 
men superhuman. Whether we turn to the legends 
of the East, the folk-lore of Europe, or the traditions 
of the native races of America, we find a m>^hology 
based upon the acts of man gifted with superhuman 
powers. In the unscientific, primeval periods in 
which these beliefs were born and elaborated into 
oral and written form, their origin is not surprising. 
But to all who have studied the creation of a my- 
thology, no phase is a more curious one than that 
the keen, practical American of to-day should en- 
gage in the same process of hero-building which 
has given us Jupiter, Wotan, King Arthur, and others. 
By a slow evolution we have well-nigh discarded from 
the lives of our greatest men of the past all human 
faults and feelings ; have enclosed their greatness in 
glass of the clearest crystal, and hung up a sign, 
** Do not touch." Indeed, with such characters as 
Washington, Franklin, and Lincoln we have practi- 
cally adopted the English maxim that *' the king can 
do no wrong." In place of men, limited by human 
limits, and influenced by human passions, we have 
demi-gods, so stripped of human characteristics as to 
make us question even whether they deserve much 
credit for their sacrifices and deeds. 

5 



NOTE 

But with this process of canonization have we not 
lost more than we have gained, both in example and 
in interest? Many, no doubt, with the greatest 
veneration for our first citizen, have sympathized 
with the view expressed by Mark Twain, when he 
said that he was a greater man than Washington, for 
the latter " couldn't tell a lie, while he could, but 
wouldn't" We have endless biographies of Frank- 
lin, picturing him in all the public stations of life, but 
all together they do not equal in popularity his own 
human autobiography, in which we see him walking 
down Market Street with a roll under each arm, and 
devouring a third. And so it seems as if the time 
had come to put the shadow-boxes of humanity 
round our historic portraits, not because they are 
ornamental in themselves, but because they will 
make them examples, not mere idols. 

. If the present work succeeds in humanizing Wash- 
ington, and making him a man rather than a histor- 
ical figure, its purpose will have been fulfilled. In 
the attempt to accomplish this, Washington has, so 
far as is possible, been made to speak for himself, 
even though at times it has compelled the sacrifice 
of literary form, in the hope that his own words 
would convey a greater sense of the personality of 
the man. So, too, liberal drafts have been made on 
the opinions and statements of his contemporaries ; 
but, unless the contrary is stated or is obvious, all 
quoted matter is from Washington's own pen. It is 
with pleasure that the author adds that the result of 
his study has only served to make Washington the 
greater to him. 

6 



NOTE 

The writer is under the greatest obHgation to his 
brother, Worthington Chauncey Ford, not merely for 
his numerous books on Washington, of which his 
"Writings of George Washington" is easily first in 
importance of all works relating to the great Ameri- 
can, but also for much manuscript material which he 
has placed at the author's service. Hitherto un- 
published facts have been drawn from many other 
sources, but notably from the rich collection of Mr. 
William F. Havemeyer, of New York, from the De- 
partment of State in Washington, and from the His- 
torical Society of Pennsylvania. To Mr. S. M. 
Hamilton, of the former institution, and to Mr. Fred- 
erick D. Stone, of the latter, the writer is particularly 
mdebted for assistance. 



Contents 

CKAPTBlt PAGB 

I. — Family Relations 15 

II. — Physique 38 

III.— Education 60 

IV. — Relations with the Fair Sex 84 

V. — Farmer and Proprietor 112 

VI.— Master and Employer 138 

VII. — Social Life 163 

VIII. — Tastes and Amusements 186 

IX. — Friends 209 

X. — Enemies 240 

XI.— Soldier 268 

XII. — Citizen and Office- Holder 293 



List of Illustrations with Notes 



FAGB 

Miniature of Washington. By James Sharpless 

Frontispiece. 

Painted for Washington in 1795, and presented by him 
to Nelly (Calvert) Stuart, widow of John Parke Custis, 
Washington's adopted son. Her son George Washington 
Parke Custis, in whose presence the sittings were made, 
often spoke of the likeness as " almost perfect." 

Memorial Tablet of Laurence and Amee Wash- 
ington, IN SULGRAVE CHURCH, NORTHAMPTON- 
SHIRE 17 

The injury of the effigy of Laurence Washington and the 
entire disappearance of the effigy of Amee antedate the 
early part of the present century, and probably were done 
in the Puritan period. Since the above tracing was made 
the brasses of the eleven children have been stolen, leaving 
nothing but the lettering and the shield of the Washington 
arms. 

Betty Washington, Wife of Fielding Lewis . . 22 

Painted about 1750. and erroneously alleged to be by 
Copley. Original in the possession of Mr. R. Byrd Lewis, 
of Marmion, Virginia. 

John and Martha Custis 30 

Original in the possession of General G. W. Custis Lee, of 
Lexington, Virginia. 

Miniature of Eleanor Parke Custis 34 

From the miniature by Gilbert Stuart, in the possession of 
her grandson, Edward Parke Lewis Custis, of Hoboken, 
New Jersey. 

II 



UST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WITH NOTES 

PACS 

Fictitious Portrait of Washington 47 

The lettering reads. " Done from an original Drawn firora 
the Life, by Alex' Campbell of Williamsburg in Virginia. 
Published as the act directs 9 Sept' 1775 by C. Shepherd." 
It is the first engraved portrait of Washington, and was 
issued to satisfy the English curiosity concerning the new 
commander-in-chief of the rebels. From the original 
print in the possession of Mr. W. F. Havemeyer, of New 
York. 

Copy Sheet from Young Man's Companion. . . 62 

The sheet from which Washington modelled his hand- 
writing, and to which his earliest script shows a marked 
resemblance. From the original in the possession of the 
author. 

Letter to Mrs. Fairfax 67 

Showing changes and corrections made by Washington 
at a later date. From original copy-book in the Washing- 
ton MSS. in the Department of State. 

Portrait of Mary Philipse 90 

From the original formerly in the possession of Mr. 
Frederick Philipse. 

Portrait of Martha Custis loi 

Alleged to have been painted by Woolaston about 1757. 
It has been asserted by Mr. L. W. Washington and Mr. 
Moncure D. Conway that this is a portrait of Betty Wash- 
ington Lewis, but in this they are wholly in error, as proof 
exists that it is a portrait of Mrs. Washington before her 
second marriage. 

Survey of Mount Vernon Hills 114 

Made by Washington as a boy, and one of the earliest 
specimens of his work. The small drawing of the house 
represents it as it was before Washington enlarged it, and 
is the only picture of it known. Original in the Depart- 
ment of State. 

Mountain Road Lottery Ticket 135 

From the original in the Historical Society of Pennsyl- 
vania. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WITH NOTES 

PACK 

Family Group 150 

Painted by Edward Savage about 1795, and issued as a 
large engraving in 1798. The original picture is now in 
the possession of Mr. William F. Havemeyer, of New 
York. 



Dinner Invitation 173 

The official invitation while President, from the original in 
the possession of the author. 



Dancing Agreement 184 

This gives only the first few names, many more following. 
The original was formerly in the possession of Mr. Thomas 
Biddle, of Philadelphia. 



Book-Plate of Washington 204 

This is a slight variation from the true Washington coat 
of arms, the changes being introduced by Washington. 
From the original in the possession of the author. 



Survey of Wakefield 210 

Washington's birthplace. The survey was made in 1743, 
on the property coming into the possession of Augustine 
Washington (second) from his father, with the object of 
readjusting the boundary-lines. Original in the possession 
of Mr. William F. Havemeyer, of New York. 



Washington Family Bible 225 

This record, with the exception of the interlined note 
concerning Betty Washington Lewis, is in the handwriting 
of George Washington, and was written when he was 
about sixteen years old. Original in the possession of Mrs. 
Lewis Washington, of Charlestown, West Virginia. 



Miniature of Mrs. Washington 244 

By an unknown artist. From the original in the possession 
of General G. W. Custis Lee, of Lexington, Virginia. 
13 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS WITH NOTES 

PAGB 

Earliest Autograph of Washington 260 

On a fly-leaf of the volume to which this title belongs is 
written, "This autograph of Genl. Washington's name is 
believed to be the earliest specimen of his writing, when 
he was probably not more than 8 or 9 years of age." 
This is a note by G. C. Washington, to whom Washing- 
ton's library descended. Original in the possession of the 
Boston Athenaeum. 



Rules of Civility 270 

First page of Washington's boyish transcript, written when 
he was about thirteen years of age. Used here by courtesy 
of Mr. S. M. Hamilton and " Public Opinion," who are 
preparing a fac-simile edition of the entire rules. 

Life Mask by Houdon 285 

Taken by Houdon in October, 1785. From the replica 
in the Historical Society of Pennsylvania. 

Title-Page of Journal of George Washington, 

1754 294 

Of this first edition but two copies are known. From the 
original in the Lenox Library. 

Presidential House in Philadelphia .... 304 

Philadelphia offered to furnish the house for the President 
during the time Congress sat in that city, but Washington 
" wholly declined living in any public building," and rented 
this house from Robert Morris. Though it was considered 
one of the finest in the city, Washington several times 
complained of being cramped. 



The True 
George Washington 



FAMILY RELATIONS 



Although Washington wrote that the history of 
his ancestors was, in his opinion, "of very Httle 
moment," and " a subject to which I confess I have 
paid very little attention," few Americans can prove 
a better pedigree. The earliest of his forebears yet 
discovered was described as "gentleman," the family 
were granted lands by Henry the Eighth, held various 
offices of honor, married into good families, and under 
the Stuarts two were knighted and a third served as 
page to Prince Charles. Lawrence, a brother of the 
three thus distinguished, matriculated at Oxford as a 
" generosi filius" (the intermediate class between sons 
of the nobility, " armigeri fihus," and of the people, 
" plebeii filius"), or as of the minor gentry. In time 
he became a fellow and lector of Brasenose College, 
and presently obtained the good living of Purleigh. 
Strong royalists, the fortunes of the family waned 
along with King Charles, and sank into insignificance 
with the passing of the Stuart dynasty. Not the least 
sufferer was the rector of Purleigh, for the Puritan 

15 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Parliament ejected him from his living, on the charge 
•* that he was a common frequenter of ale-houses, 
not only himself sitting dayly tippling there . . . but 
hath oft been drunk," — a charge indignantly denied 
by the royalists, who asserted that he was a " worthy 
Pious man, . . . always ... a very Modest, Sober 
Person ;" and this latter claim is supported by the 
fact that though the Puritans sequestered the rich 
living, they made no objection to his serving as rector 
at Brixted Parva, where the living was ''such a Poor 
and Miserable one that it was always with difficulty 
that any one was persuaded to accept of it" 

Poverty resulting, John, the eldest son of this 
rector, early took to the sea, and in 1656 assisted " as 
second man in Sayleing ye Vessel to Virginia." 
Here he settled, took up land, presently became a 
county officer, a burgess, and a colonel of militia. 
In this latter function he commanded the Virginia 
troops during the Indian war of 1675, and when his 
great-grandson, George, on his first arrival on the 
frontier, was called by the Indians *' Conotocarius," 
or **devourer of villages," the formidable but inap- 
propriate title for the newly-fledged officer is sup- 
posed to have been due to the reputation that John 
Washington had won for his name among the Indians 
eighty years before. 

Both John's son, Lawrence, and Lawrence's son, 
Augustine, describe themselves in their wills as ** gen- 
tlemen," and both intermarried with the " gentry 
families" of Virginia. Augustine was educated at 
Appleby School, in England, like his grandfather 
followed the sea for a time, was interested Ln iron 

16 




m 




5bnrTacpin-irii ^hbm offcr nrr UiajOpnofil <?ftJt tnurii? ' 
fliit\ jtainrfiiffft«Ifa«f^daaof®tfoMaa3iDt5b4 



J 





Tablet to Laurence Washington and his Family in 
SuLGRAVE Church. 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

mines, and in other ways proved himself far more 
than the average Virginia planter of his day. He 
was twice married, — which marriages, with uncon- 
scious humor, he describes in his will as ** several 
Ventures," — had ten children, and died in 1743, 
when George, his fifth child and the first by his 
second " Venture," was a boy of eleven. The father 
thus took little part in the life of the lad, and almost 
the only mention of him by his son still extant is 
the one recorded in Washington's round school-boy 
hand in the family Bible, to the effect that ''Augus- 
tine Washington and Mary Ball was Married the 
Sixth of March i/f^. Augustine Washington De- 
parted this Life ye 12th Day of April 1743, Aged 
49 Years." 

The mother, Mary Washington, was more of a 
factor, though chiefly by mere length of life, for she 
lived to be eighty-three, and died but ten years 
before her son. That Washington owed his personal 
appearance to the Balls is true, but otherwise the 
sentimentality that has been lavished about the 
relations between the two and her influence upon 
him, partakes of fiction rather than of truth. After 
his father's death the boy passed most of his time at 
the homes of his two elder brothers, and this was 
fortunate, for they were educated men, of some colo- 
nial consequence, while his mother lived in compara- 
tively straitened circumstances, was illiterate and 
untidy, and, moreover, if tradition is to be believed, 
smoked a pipe. Her course with the lad was blamed 
by a contemporary as ''fond and unthinking," and 
this is borne out by such facts as can be gleaned, 
2 17 



• THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

for when his brothers wished to send him to sea she 
made "trifling objections," and prevented his taking 
what they thought an advantageous opening ; when 
the brilHant offer of a position on Braddock's staff 
was tendered to Washington, his mother, *' alarmed 
at the report," hurried to Mount Vernon and en- 
deavored to prevent him from accepting it ; still 
again, after Braddock's defeat, she so wearied her 
son with pleas not to risk the dangers of another 
campaign that Washington finally wrote her, ** It 
would reflect dishonor upon me to refuse ; and tJiat, 
I am sure, must or ought to give you greater uneasi- 
ness, than my going in an honorable command." 
After he inherited Mount Vernon the two seem to 
have seen little of each other, though, when occasion 
took him near Fredericksburg, he usually stopped to 
see her for a few hours, or even for a night 

Though Washington always wrote to his mother 
as "Honored Madam," and signed himself "your 
dutiful and aff. son," she none the less tried him not 
a little. He never claimed from her a part of the 
share of his father's estate which was his due on 
becoming of age, and, in addition, " a year or two 
before I left Virginia (to make her latter days com- 
fortable and free from care) I did, at her request, but 
at my own expence, purchase a commodious house, 
garden and Lotts (of her own choosing) in Freder- 
icksburg, that she might be near my sister Lewis, 
her only daughter, — and did moreover agree to take 
her land and negroes at a certain yearly rent, to be 
fixed by Colo Lewis and others (of her own nomi- 
nation) which has been an annual expence to me 

i3 



FAMILY RELATIONS ^ 

ever since, as the estate never raised one half the 
rent I was to pay. Before I left Virginia I answered 
all her calls for money ; and since that period haVe 
directed my steward to do the same." Furthermore, 
he gave her a phaeton, and when she complained of 
her want of comfort he wrote her, " My house is at 
your service, and [I] would press you most sincerely 
and most devoutly to accept it, but I am sure, and 
candor requires me to say, it will never answer your 
purposes in any shape whatsoever. For in truth it 
may be compared to a well resorted tavern, as 
scarcely any strangers who are going from north to 
south, or from south to north, do not spend a day or 
two at it. This would, were you to be an inhabitant 
of it, oblige you to do one of 3 things : 1st, to be 
always dressing to appear in company ; 2d, to come 
into [the room] in a dishabille, or 3d to be as it were 
a prisoner in your own chamber. The first you'ld 
not like ; indeed, for a person at your time of life it 
would be too fatiguing. The 2d, I should not like, 
because those who resort here are, as I observed 
before, strangers and people of the first distinction. 
And the 3d, more than probably, would not be 
pleasing to either of us." 

Under these circumstances it was with real indig- 
nation that Washington learned that complaints of 
hers that she ''never lived soe poore in all my life" 
were so well known that there was a project to grant 
her a pension. The pain this caused a man who 
always showed such intense dislike to taking even 
money earned from public coffers, and who refused 
everything in the nature of a gift, can easily be under- 

^9 




THE TRUE GEORjGE WASHINGTON 



stood. He at once wrote a letter to a friend in the 
"Vi«^nia Assembly, in which, after reciting enough of 
'yj'^\»t l^ ha.d done for her to prove that she was 
ufilier no necessity of a pension, — " or, in other words, 
recefiffilig charity from the public," — he continued, 
** But putting these things aside, which I could not 
avoid mentioning in exculpation of a presumptive 
want of duty on my part ; confident I am that she 
has not a child that would not divide the last six- 
pence to relieve her from real distress. This she has 
been repeatedly assured of by me ; and all of us, I am 
certain, would feel much hurt, at having our mother 
a pensioner, while we had the means of supporting 
her ; but in fact she has an ample income of her own. 
I lament accordingly that your letter, which con- 
veyed the first hint of this matter, did not come to 
my hands sooner ; but I request, in pointed terms, 
if the matter is now in agitation in your Assembly, 
that all proceedings on it may be stopped, or in case 
of a decision in her favor, that it may be done away 
and repealed at my request." 

Still greater mortification was in store for him, 
when he was told that she was borrowing and ac- 
cepting gifts from her neighbors, and learned *'on 
good authority that she is, upon all occasions and in 
all companies, complaining ... of her wants and 
difficulties ; and if not in direct terms, at least by 
strong innuendoes, endeavors to excite a belief that 
times are much altered, &c., &c., which not only makes 
ker appear in an unfavorable point of view, but t/iose 
also who are connected with her." To save her 
feelings he did not express the "pain" he felt to her, 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

but he wrote a brother asking him to ascertain if 
there was the slightest basis in her complaints, 
and "see what is necessary to make her comfort- 
able," for "while I have anything I will part with it 
to make her so ;" but begging him " at the same 
time ... to represent to her in delicate terms, the 
impropriety of her complaints, and acceptaiice of 
favors, even when they are voluntarily offered, from 
any but relations." Though he did not "touch 
upon this subject in a letter to her," he was enough 
fretted to end the renting of her plantation, not be- 
cause " I mean ... to withhold any aid or support 
I can give from you ; for whilst I have a shilling left, 
you shall have part," but because "what I shall then 
give, I shall have credit for," and not be "viewed as 
a delinquent, and considered perhaps by the world 
as [an] unjust and undutiful son." 

In the last years of her life a cancer developed, 
which she refused to have "dressed," and over 
which, as her doctor wrote Washington, the " Old 
Lady" and he had "a small battle eveiy day." 
Once Washington was summoned by an express to 
her bedside "to bid, as I was prepared to expect, 
the last adieu to an honored parent," but it was a 
false alarm. Her health was so bad, however, that 
just before he started to New York to be inaugu- 
rated he rode to Fredericksburg, " and took a final 
leave of my mother, never expecting to see her 
more," a surmise that proved correct. 

Only Elizabeth — or "Betty" — of Washington's 
sisters grew to womanhood, and it is said that she 
was so strikingly like her brother that, disguised with 



^ \n. Cks^l^ >k^<,-s,ut_ ,^«v^ H. 11^7 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

a long cloak and a military hat, the difference be- 
tween them was scarcely detectable. She married 
Fielding Lewis, and lived at " Kenmore House" on 
the Rappahannock, where Washington spent many a 
night, as did the Lewises at Mount Vernon. During 
the Revolution, while visiting there, she wrote her 
brother, "Oh, when will that day arrive when we 
shall meet again. Trust in the lord it will be soon, 
— till when, you have the prayers and kind wishes 
for your health and happiness of your loving and 
sincerely affectionate sister." Her husband died 
"much indebted," and from that time her brother 
gave her occasional sums of money, and helped her 
in other ways. 

Her eldest son followed in his father's footsteps, and 
displeased Washington with requests for loans. He 
angered him still more by conduct concerning which 
Washington wrote to him as follows : 

" Sir, Your letter of the nth of Octor. never came to my hands 'till 
yesterday. Altho' your disrespectful conduct towards me, in coming 
into this country and spending weeks therein without ever coming 
near me, entitled you to very little notice or favor from me ; yet I 
consent that you may get timber from off my Land in Fauquier 
County to build a house on your Lott in Rectertown. Having 
granted this, now let me ask you what your views were in purchasing 
a Lott in a place which, I presume, originated with and will end in 
two or three Gin shops, which probably will exist no longer than 
they serve to ruin the proprietors, and those who make the most 
frequent applications to them. I am, &c." 

Other of the Lewis boys pleased him better, and 
he appointed one an officer in his own " Life Guard." 
Of another he wrote, when President, to his sister, 
" If your son Howell is living with you, and not use- 

22 




MRS. FIELDING LEWIS T BETTY WASHINGTON) 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

fully employed in your own affairs, and should in- 
cline to spend a few months with me, as a writer in 
my office (if he is fit for it) I will allow him at the 
rate of three hundred dollars a year, provided he is 
diligent in discharging the duties of it from breakfast 
until dinner — Sundays excepted. This sum will be 
punctually paid him, and I am particular in declaring 
beforehand what I require, and what he may expect, 
that there may be no disappointment, or false expec- 
tations on either side. He will live in the family in 
the same manner his brother Robert did." This 
Robert had been for some time one of his secretaries, 
and at another time was employed as a rent-col- 
lector. 

Still another son, Lawrence, also served him in 
these dual capacities, and Washington, on his retire- 
ment from the Presidency, offered him a home at 
Mount Vernon. This led to a marriage with Mrs. 
Washington's grandchild, Eleanor Custis, a match 
which so pleased Washington that he made arrange- 
ments for Lawrence to build on the Mount Vernon 
estate, in his will named him an executor, and left 
the couple apart of this property, as well as a portion 
of the residuary estate. 

As already noted, much of Washington's early life 
was passed at the homes of his elder (half-) brothers, 
Lawrence and Augustine, who lived respectively at 
Mount Vernon and Wakefield. When Lawrence 
developed consumption, George was his travelling 
companion in a trip to Barbadoes, and from him, 
when he died of that disease, in 1752, came the be- 
quest of Mount Vernon to '* my loveing brother 

23 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

George." To Augustine, in the only letter now ex- 
tant, Washington wrote, "The pleasure of your com- 
pany at Mount Vernon always did, and always will 
afford me infinite satisfaction," and signed himself 
"your most affectionate brother." Surviving this 
brother, he left handsome bequests to all his children. 

Samuel, the eldest of his own brothers, and his 
junior by but two years, though constantly corre- 
sponded with, was not a favorite. He seems to have 
had extravagant tendencies, variously indicated by 
five marriages, and by (perhaps as a consequence) 
pecuniary difficulties. In 1781, Washington wrote 
to another brother, " In God's name how did my 
brother Samuel get himself so enormously in debt?" 
Very quickly requests for loans followed, than which 
nothing was more irritating to Washington. Yet, 
though he replied that it would be " very inconve- 
nient" to him, his ledger shows that at least two 
thousand dollars were advanced, and in a letter to 
this brother, on the danger of borrowing at interest, 
Washington wrote, " I do not make these observations 
on account of the money I purpose to lend you, be- 
cause all I shall require is that you return the net 
sum when in your power, without interest" Better 
even than this, in his will Washington discharged the 
debt. 

To the family of Samuel, Washington was equally 
helpful. For the eldest son he obtained an ensigncy, 
and "to save Thornton and you [Samuel] the ex- 
pence of buying a horse to ride home on, I have lent 
him a mare." Two other sons he assumed all the 
expenses of, and showed an almost fatherly interest 

24 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

in them. He placed them at school, and when the 
lads proved somewhat unruly he wrote them long 
admonitory letters, which became stern when actual 
misconduct ensued, and when one of them ran away 
to Mount Vernon to escape a whipping, Washington 
himself prepared " to correct him, but he begged so 
earnestly and promised so faithfully that there should 
be no cause for complaint in the future, that I have 
suspended punishment" Later the two were sent 
to college, and in all cost Washington ''near five 
thousand dollars." 

An even greater trouble was their sister Harriot, 
whose care was assumed in 1785, and who was a 
member of Washington's household, with only a slight 
interruption, till her marriage in 1796. Her chief 
failing was " no disposition ... to be careful of her 
cloathes," which were ''dabbed about in every hole 
and comer and her best things always in use," so 
that Washington said "she costs me enough !" To 
her uncle she wrote on one occasion, " How shall I 
apologise to my dear and Honor' d for intruding 
on his goodness so soon again, but being sensible for 
your kindness to me vdiich I shall ever remember 
with the most heartfelt gratitude induces me to make 
known my wants. I have not had a pair of stays 
since I first came here : if you could let me have a 
pair I should be very much obleiged to you, and 
also a hat and a few other articles. I hope my dear 
Uncle will not think me extravagant for really I take 
as much care of my cloaths as I possibly can." 
Probably the expense that pleased him best in her 
case was that which he recorded in his ledger " By 

.25 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Miss Harriot Washington gave her to buy wedding 
clothes ;^ioo." 

His second and favorite brother, John Augustine, 
who was four years his junior, Wasliington described 
as **the intimate companion of my youth and the 
friend of my ripened age." While the Virginia 
colonel was on the frontier, from 1754 to 1759, he 
left John in charge of all his business affairs, giving 
him a residence at and management of Mount Ver- 
non. With this brother he constantly corresponded, 
addressing him as ** Dear Jack," and writing in the 
most intimate and affectionate terms, not merely to 
him, but when John had taken unto himself a wife, 
to her, and to '* the little ones," and signing himself 
"your loving brother." Visits between the two were 
frequent, and invitations for the same still more 
so, and in one letter, written during the most trying 
moment of the Revolution, Washington said, *' God 
grant you all health and happiness. Nothing in this 
world could contribute so to mine as to be fixed 
among you." John died in 1787, and Washington 
wrote with simple but undisguised grief of the death 
of '*my beloved brother." 

The eldest son of this brother, Bushrod, was his 
favorite nephew, and Washington took much interest 
in his career, getting the lad admitted to study law 
with Judge James Wilson, in Philadelphia, and taking 
genuine pride in him when he became a lawyer and 
judge of repute. He made this nephew his travelling 
companion in the Western journey of 1784, and at 
other times not merely sent him money, but wrote 
him letters of advice, dwelling on the dangers that 

26 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

beset young men, though confessing that he was 
himself ** not such a Stoic" as to expect too much of 
youthful blood. To Bushrod, also, he appealed on 
legal matters, adding, "You may think me an un- 
profitable applicant in asking opinions and requiring 
services of you without dousing my money, but pay 
day may come," and in this he was as good as his 
word, for in his will Washington left Bushrod, ** partly 
in consideration of an intimation to his deceased 
father, while we were bachelors and he had kindly 
undertaken to superintend my Estates, during my 
military services in the former war between Great 
Britain and France, that if I should fall therein, Mt. 
Vernon . . . should become his property," the home 
and "mansion-house farm," one share of the resid- 
uary estate, his private papers, and his library, and 
named him an executor of the instrument. 

Of Washington's relations with his youngest 
brother, Charles, little can be learned. He was the 
last of his brothers to die, and Washington outlived 
him so short a time that he was named in his will, 
though only for a mere token of remembrance. " I 
add nothing to it because of the ample provision I 
have made for his issue." Of the children so men- 
tioned, Washington was particularly fond of George 
Augustine Washington. As a mere lad he used his 
influence to procure for him an ensigncy in a Virginia 
regiment, and an appointment on Lafayette's staff 
When in 1784 the young fellow was threatened with 
consumption, his uncle's purse supplied him with the 
funds by which he was enabled to travel, even while 
Washington wrote, " Poor fellow ! his pursuit after 

27 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

health is, I fear, altogether fruitless." When better 
health came, and with it a renewal of a troth with a 
niece of Mrs. Washington's, the marriage was made 
possible by Washington appointing the young fellow 
his manager, and not merely did it take place at 
Mount Vernon, but the young couple took up their 
home there. More than this, that their outlook might 
be ** more stable and pleasing," Washington promised 
them that on his death they should not be forgotten. 
When the disease again developed, Washington 
wrote his nephew in genuine anxiety, and ended his 
letter, "At all times and under all circumstances 
you and yours will possess my affectionate regards." 
Only a few days later the news of his nephew's death 
reached him, and he wrote his widow, **To you who 
so well know the affectionate regard I had for our 
departed friend, it is unnecessary to describe the sor- 
row with which I was afflicted at the news of his 
death." He asked her and her children '*to return 
to your old habitation at Mount Vernon. You can 
go to no place where you can be more welcome, 
nor to any where you can live at less expence and 
trouble," an offer, he adds, ** made to you with my 
whole heart." Furthermore, Washington served as 
executor, assumed the expense of educating one of 
the sons, and in his will left the two children part of 
the Mount Vernon estate, as well as other bequests, 
'* on account of the affection I had for, and the obli- 
gation I was under to their father when living, who 
from his youth attached himself to my person, and 
followed my fortunes through the vicissitudes of the 
late Revolution, afterwards devoting his time for 

28 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

many years whilst my public employments rendered 
it impracticable for me to do it myself, thereby 
affording me essential services and always perform- 
ing them in a manner the most filial and respectful." 

Of his wife's kith and kin Washington was equally 
fond. Both alone and with Mrs. Washington he 
often visited her mother, Mrs. Dandridge, and in 
1773 he wrote to a brother-in-law that he wished ** I 
was master of Arguments powerful enough to prevail 
upon Mrs. Dandridge to make this place her entire 
and absolute home. I should think as she lives a 
lonesome life (Betsey being married) it might suit her 
well, & be agreeable, both to herself & my Wife, to 
me most assuredly it would." Washington was also 
a frequent visitor at ** Eltham," the home of Colonel 
Bassett, who had married his wife's sister, and con- 
stantly corresponded with these relatives. He asked 
this whole family to be his guests at the Warm Springs, 
and, as this meant camping out in tents, he wrote, 
" You will have occasion to provide nothing, if I can 
be advised of your intentions, so that I may provide 
accordingly." To another brother-in-law, Barthol- 
omew Dandridge, he lent money, and forgave the 
debt to the widow in his will, also giving her the use 
during her life of the thirty-three negroes he had 
bid in at the bankruptcy sale of her husband's prop- 
erty. 

The pleasantest glimpses of family feeling are 
gained, however, in his relations with his wife's chil- 
dren and grandchildren. John Parke and Martha 
Parke Custis — or **Jack" and " Patsey," as he called 
them — were at the date of his marriage respectively 

29 



THE TRUE GEQRGE WASHINGTON 

six and four years of age, and in the first invoice of 
goods to be shipped to him from London after he 
had become their step-father, Washington ordered 
"10 shiihngs worth of Toys," **6 Httle books for 
children beginning to read," and ** i fashionable- 
dressed baby to cost lOshiUings." When this latter 
shared the usual fate, he further wrote for " i fash- 
ionable dress Doll to cost a guinea," and for "A box 
of Gingerbread Toys & Sugar Images or Comfits." 
A little later he ordered a Bible and Prayer-Book for 
each, *' neatly bound in Turkey," with names /* in 
gilt letters on the inside of the cover," followed ere 
long by an order for " i veiy good Spinet." As 
Patsy grew to girlhood she developed fits, and 
" solely on her account to try (by the advice of her 
Physician) the effect of the waters on her Complaint," 
Washington took the family over the mountains and 
camped at the "Warm Springs" in 1769, with "little 
benefit," for, after ailing four years longer, "she was 
seized with one of her usual Fits & expired in it, in 
less than two minutes, without uttering a word, or 
groan, or scarce a sigh. " " The Sweet Innocent Girl, ' ' 
Washington wrote, " entered into a more happy & 
peaceful abode than she has met with in the afflicted 
Path she has hitherto trod," but none the less "it is an 
easier matter to conceive than to describe the distress 
of this family" at the loss of "dear Patsy Custis." 

The care of Jack Custis was a worry to Washing- 
ton in quite another way. As a lad, Custis signed 
his letters to him as "your most effectionate and 
dutiful son," "yet I conceive," Washington wrote, 
"there is much greater circumspection to be observed 

30 




JOHN AND MARTHA PARKE CUSTIS 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

by a guardian than a natural parent." Soon after 
assuming charge of the boy, a tutor was secured, 
who Hved at Mount Vernon, but the boy showed 
Httle incHnation to study, and when fourteen, Wash- 
ington wrote that "his mind [is] . . . more turned 
. . . to Dogs, Horses and Guns, indeed upon Dress 
and equipage." "Having his well being much at 
heart," Washington wished to make him "fit for 
more useful purposes than [a] horse racer," and so 
Jack was placed with a clergyman, who agreed to in- 
struct him, and with him he lived, except for some 
home visits, for three years. Unfortunately, the lad, 
like the true Virginian planter of his day, had no taste 
for study, and had "a propensity for the [fair] sex." 
After two or three flirtations, he engaged himself, 
without the knowledge of his mother or guardian, to 
Nellie Calvert, a match to which no objection could 
be made, except that, owing to his "youth and 
fickleness," "he may either change and therefore 
injure the young lady ; or that it may precipitate him 
into a marriage before, I am certain, he has ever 
bestowed a serious thought of the consequences ; by 
which means his education is interrupted." To 
avoid this danger, Washington took his ward to New 
York and entered him in King's College, but the 
death of Patsy Custis put a termination to study, for 
Mrs. Washington could not bear to have the lad at 
such a distance, and Washington " did not care, as 
he is the last of the family, to push my opposition too 
far." Accordingly, Jack returned to Virginia and 
promptly married. 

The young couple were much at Mount Vernon 
31 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

from this time on, and Washington wrote to " Dear 
Jack," *'I am always pleased with yours and Nelly's 
abidance at Mount Vernon." When the winter 
snows made the siege of Boston purely passive, the 
couple journeyed with Mrs. Washington to Cam- 
bridge, and visited at head-quarters for some months. 
The arrival of children prevented the repetition of 
such visits, but frequent letters, which rarely failed 
to send love to " Nelly and the little girls," were ex- 
changed. The acceptance of command compelled 
Washington to resign the care of Custis's estate, for 
which service '* I have never charged him or his sis- 
ter, from the day of my connexion with them to this 
hour, one farthing for all the trouble I have had in 
managing their estates, nor for any expense they 
have been to me, notwithstanding some hundreds of 
pounds would not reimburse the moneys I have actu- 
ally paid in attending the public meetings in Wil- 
liamsburg to collect their debts, and transact these 
several matters appertaining to the respective es- 
tates.* Washington, however, continued his advice 
as to its management, and in other letters advised 
him concerning his conduct when Custis was elected 
a member of the Virginia House of Delegates. In 
the siege of Yorktown Jack served as an officer of 
militia, and the exposure proved too much for him. 
Immediately after the surrender, news reached Wash- 
ington of his serious illness, and by riding thirty miles 
in one day he succeeded in reaching Eltham in 
" time enough to see poor Mr. Custis breath his last," 
leaving behind him ** four lovely children, three girls 
and a boy." 

32 




ELEANOR (nelly) CUSTIS 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

Owing to his public employment, Washington re- 
fused to be guardian for these "little ones," writing 
** that it would be injurious to the children and mad- 
ness in me, to undertake, as a principky a trust which 
I could not discharge. Such aid, however, as it ever 
may be with me to give to the children especially 
the boy, I will afford with all my heart, and on this 
assurance you may rely." Yet ''from their earliest 
infancy" two of Jack's children, George Washington 
Parke and Eleanor Parke Custis, lived at Mount 
Vernon, for, as Washington wrote in his will, ** it has 
always been my intention, since my expectation of 
having issue has ceased, to consider the grandchildren 
of my wife in the same light as my own relations, 
and to act a friendly part by them." Though the 
cares of war prevented his watching their property 
interests, his eight years' absence could not make 
him forget them, and on his way to Annapolis, in 
1783, to tender Congress his resignation, he spent 
sundry hours of his time in the purchase of gifts 
obviously intended to increase the joy of his home- 
coming to the family circle at Mount Vernon ; set 
forth in his note-book as follows : 

"" By Sundries bo*, in Phil^. 

A Locket £^ 5 

3 Small Pockt. Books i lo 

3 Sashes i 50 

Dress Cap 28 

Hatt . 3 10 

Handkerchief I 

Childrens Books 46 

Whirligig 16 

Fiddle 26 

Quadrille Boxes o . . . I 17 6." 

3 33 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Indeed, in every way Washington showed how 
entirely he considered himself as a father, not merely 
speaking of them frequently as ** the children," but 
even alluding to himself in a letter to the boy as 
"your papa." Both were much his companions 
during the Presidency. A frequent sight in New 
York and Philadelphia was Washington taking ** ex- 
ercise in the coach with Mrs. Washington and the 
two children," and several times they were taken to 
the theatre and on picnics. 

For Eleanor, or ** Nelly," who grew into a great 
beauty, Washington showed the utmost tenderness, 
and on occasion interfered to save her from her 
grandmother, who at moments was inclined to be 
severe, in one case to bring the storm upon himself. 
For her was bought a ** Forte piano," and later, at 
the cost of a thousand dollars, a very fine imported 
harpsichord, and one of Washington's great pleasures 
was to have her play and sing to him. His ledger 
constantly shows gifts to her ranging from "The Way- 
worn traveller, a song for Miss Custis," to "a pr. of 
gold eardrops" and a watch. The two corresponded. 
One letter from Washington merits quotation : 

" Let me touch a little now on your Georgetown ball, and happy, 
thrice happy, for the fair who assembled on the occasion, that there 
was a man to spare ; for had there been 79 ladies and only 78 gen- 
tlemen, there might, in the course of the evening have been some 
disorder among the caps ; notwithstanding the apathy which one of 
the company entertains for the * youth'' of the present day, and her 
determination 'Never to give herself a moment's uneasiness on ac- 
count of any of them.' A hint here ; men and women feel the 
same inclinations towards each other «^zf/ that they always have done, 
and which they will continue to do until there is a new order of 
things, and you, as others have done, may find, perhaps, that the 

34 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

passions of your sex are easier raised than allayed. Do not there- 
fore boast too soon or too strongly of your insensibility to, or resist- 
ance of, its powers. In the composition of the human frame there is 
a good deal of inflammable matter, however dormant it may lie for a 
time, and like an intimate acquaintance of yours, when the torch is 
put to it, that which is within you may burst into a blaze ; for which 
reason and especially too, as I have entered upon the chapter of ad- 
vices, I will read you a lecture from this text. ' ' 

Not long after this was written, Nelly, as already 
mentioned, was married at Moimt Vernon to Wash- 
ington's nephew, Lawrence Lewis, and in time be- 
came joint-owner with her husband of part of that 
place. 

As early as 1785 a tutor was wanted for "little 
Washington," as the lad was called, and Washington 
wrote to England to a^k if some "worthy man of the 
cloth could not be obtained," "for the boy is a re- 
markably fine one, and my intention is to give him a 
liberal education." His training^ became part of the 
private secretary's duty, both at Mount Vernon and 
New York and Philadelphia, but the lad inherited his 
father's traits, and " from his infancy . . . discovered 
an almost unconquerable disposition to indolence." 
This led to failures which gave Washington " extreme 
disquietude," and in vain he "exhorted him in the 
most parental and friendly manner." Custis would 
express "sorrow and repentance" and do no better. 
Successively he was sent to the Colkge of Phila- 
delphia, the College of New Jersey, and that at An- 
napolis, but from each he was expelled, or had to 
be withdrawn. L-ritating as it must have been, his 
guardian never in his letters expressed anything but 
affection, shielded the lad from the anger of his step- 

35 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

father, and saw that he was properly supplied with 
money, of which he asked him to keep a careful ac- 
count, — though this, as Washington wrote, was ** not 
because I want to know how you spend your money." 
After the last college failure a private tutor was once 
more engaged, but a very few weeks served to give 
Washington "a thorough conviction that it was in vain 
to keep Washington Custis to any literary pursuits, 
either in a public Seminary or at home," and, as the 
next best thing, he procured him a cornetcy in the 
provisional army. Even here, balance was shown ; for, 
out of compliment and friendship to Washington, 
"the Major Generals were desirous of placing him 
as lieutenant in the first instance ; but his age con- 
sidered, I thought it more eligibL :hat he should 
enter into the lowest grade." 

In this connection one side of Washington's course 
with his relations deserves especial notice. As early 
as 1756 he applied for a commission in the Virginia 
forces for his brother, and, as already shown, he 
placed several of his nephews and other connections 
in the Revolutionary or provisional armies. But he 
made clear distinction between military and civil ap- 
pointments, and was very scrupulous about the lat- 
ter. When his favorite nephew asked for a Federal 
appointment, Washington answered, — 

' ' You cannot doubt my wishes to see you appointed to any office 
of honor or emolument in the new government, to the duties of 
which you are competent ; but however deserving you may be of 
the one you have suggested, your standing at the bar would not jus- 
tify my nomination of you as attorney to the Federal District Court 
in preference to some of the oldest and most esteemed general court 
lawyers in your State, who are desirous of this appointr^ent. My 

36 



FAMILY RELATIONS 

political conduct in nominations, even if I were uninfluenced by 
principle, must be exceedingly circumspect and proof against just 
criticism ; for the eyes of Argus are upon me, and no slip will pass 
unnoticed, that can be improved into a supposed partiality for friends 
or relations." 

And that in this policy he was consistent is shown 
by a letter of Jefferson, who wrote to an office-seek- 
ing relative, **The public will never be made to 
believe that an appointment of a relative is made on 
the ground of merit alone, uninfluenced by family 
views ; nor can they ever see with approbation 
offices, the disposal of which they entrust to their 
Presidents for public purposes, divided out as family 
property. Mr. Adams degraded himself infinitely by 
his conduct on this subject, as Genl. Washington had 
done himself the greatest honor. With two such 
examples to proceed by, I should be doubly inex- 
cusable to err." 

There were many other more distant relatives with 
whom pleasant relations were maintained, but 
enough has been said to indicate the intercourse. 
Frequent were the house-parties at Mount Vernon, 
and how unstinted hospitality was to kith and kin 
is shown by many entries in Washington's diary, a 
single one of which will indicate the rest : *' I set out 
for my return home — at which I arrived*a little after 
noon — And found my Brother Jno Augustine his 
Wife ; Daughter Milly, & Sons Bushrod & Corbin, 
& the Wife of the first. Mr. Willm Washington & 
his Wife and 4 Children." 

His will left bequests to forty-one of his own and 
his wife's relations. " God left him childless that he 
might be the father of his country." 

37 



PHYSIQUE 

Writing to his London tailor for clothes, in 1763, 
Washington directed him to "take measure of a 
gentleman who wares well-made cloaths of the fol- 
lowing size : to wit, 6 feet high and proportionably 
made — if anything rather slender than thick, for a 
person of that highth, with pretty long arms and 
thighs. You will take care to make the breeches 
longer than those you sent me last, and I would 
have you keep the measure of the cloaths you now 
make, by you, and if any alteration is required in my 
next it shall be pointed out." About this time, too, 
he ordered " 6 pr. Man's riding Gloves — rather large 
than the middle size," . . . and several dozen pairs 
of stockings, "to be long, and tolerably large." 

The earliest known description of Washington was 
written in 1760 by his companion-in-arms and friend 
George Mercer, who attempted a "portraiture" in 
the following words : " He may be described as being 
as straight as an Indian, measuring six feet two 
inches in his stockings, and weighing 175 pounds 
when he took his seat in the House of Burgesses in 
1759. His frame is padded with well-developed 
muscles, indicating great strength. His bones and 
joints are large, as are his feet and hands. He is 
wide shouldered, but has not a deep or round chest; 

38 



PHYSIQUE 

is neat waisted, but is broad across the hips, and 
has rather long legs and arms. His head is well 
shaped though not large, but is gracefully poised on 
a superb neck. A large and straight rather than 
prominent nose ; blue-gray penetrating eyes, which 
are widely separated and overhung by a heavy brow. 
His face is long rather than broad, with high round 
cheek bones, and terminates in a good firm chin. 
He has a clear though rather a colorless pale skin, 
which burns with the sun. A pleasing, benevolent, 
though a commanding countenance, dark brown 
hair, which he wears in a cue. His mouth is large 
and generally firmly closed, but which from time to 
time discloses some defective teeth. His features 
are regular and placid, with all the muscles of his 
face under perfect control, though flexible and ex- 
pressive of deep feeling when moved by emotion. 
In conversation he looks you full in the face, is 
deliberate, deferential and engaging. His voice is 
agreeable rather than strong. His demeanor at all 
times composed and dignified. His movements and 
gestures are graceful, his walk majestic, and he is 
a splendid horseman." 

■' Dr. James Thacher, writing in 1778, depicted him 
as ** remarkably tall, full six feet, erect and well pro- 
portioned. The strength and proportion of his joints 
and muscles, appear to be commensurate with the 
pre-eminent powers of his mind. The serenity of 
his countenance, and majestic gracefulness of his 
deportment, impart a strong impression of that dig- 
nity and grandeur, which are his peculiar character- 
istics, and no one can stand in his presence without 

39 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

feeling the ascendancy of his mind, and associating 
with his countenance the idea of wisdom, philan- 
thropy, magnanimity and patriotism. There is a 
fine symmetry in the features of his face, indicative 
of a benign and dignified spirit. His nose is straight, 
and his eye inclined to blue. He wears his hair in 
a becoming cue, and from his forehead it is turned 
back and powdered in a manner which adds to the 
military air of his appearance. He displays a native 
gravity, but devoid of all appearance of ostentation." 
In this same year a friend wrote, "General Wash- 
ington is now in the forty-seventh year of his age ; 
he is a well-made man, rather large boned, and has 
a tolerably genteel address ; his features are manly 
and bold, his eyes of a bluish cast and very lively ; 
his hair a deep brown, his face rather long and 
marked with the small-pox ; his complexion sun- 
burnt and without much color, and his countenance 
sensible, composed and thoughtful ; there is a re- 
markable air of dignity about him, with a striking 
degree of gracefulness." 

In 1789 Senator Maclay saw "him as he really is. 
In stature about six feet, with an unexceptionable 
make, but lax appearance. His frame would seem 
to want filling up. His motions rather slow than 
lively, though he showed no signs of having suffered 
by gout or rheumatism. His complexion pale, nay, 
almost cadaverous. His voice hollow and indistinct, 
owing, as I believe, to artificial teeth before his 
upper jaw, which occasions a flatness." 

From frequent opportunity of seeing Washington 
between 1794 and 1797, William Sullivan described 

40 



PHYSIQUE 

him as " over six feet in stature ; of strong, bony, 
muscular frame, without fuUness of covering, well- 
formed and straight. He was a man of most extraor- 
dinary strength. In his own house, his action was 
calm, deliberate, and dignified, without pretension 
to gracefulness, or peculiar manner, but merely natu- 
ral, and such as one would think it should be in such 
a man. When walking in the street, his movement 
had not the soldierly air which might be expected. 
His habitual motions had been formed, long before 
he took command of the American Armies, in the 
wars of the interior and in the surveying of wilder- 
ness lands, employments in which grace and elegance 
were not likely to be acquired. At the age of sixty- 
five, time had done nothing towards bending him 
out of his natural erectness. His deportment Wcis 
invariably grave ; it was sobriety that stopped short 
of sadness." 

The French officers and travellers supply other 
descriptions. The Abbe Robin found him of ** tall 
and noble stature, well proportioned, a fine, cheer- 
ful, open countenance, a simple and modest carriage ; 
and his whole mien has something in it that interests 
the French, the Americans, and even enemies them- 
selves in his favor." . 

The Marquis de Chastellux wrote enthusiastically, 
"In speaking of this perfect whole of which General 
Washington furnishes the idea, I have not excluded 
exterior form. His stature is noble and lofty, he is 
well made, and exactly proportionate ; his physiog- 
nomy mild and agreeable, but such as to render it 
impossible to speak particularly of any of his 

41. 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

features, so that in quitting him you have only the 
recollection of a fine face. He has neither a grave 
nor a familiar face, his brow is sometimes marked 
with thought, but never with inquietude ; in in- 
spiring respect he inspires confidence, and his smile 
is always the smile of benevolence." 

To this description, however, Brissot de Warville 
took exception, and supplied his own picture by 
writing in 1791, "You have often heard me blame 
M. Chastellux for putting too much sprightliness in 
the character he has drawn of this general. To 
give pretensions to the portrait of a man who has 
none is truly absurd. The General's goodness ap- 
pears in his looks. They have nothing of that bril- 
liancy which his officers found in them when he was 
at the head of his army ; but in conversation they 
become animated. He has no characteristic traits 
in his figure, and this has rendered it always so diffi- 
cult to describe it: there are few portraits which 
resemble him. All his answers are pertinent ; he 
shows the utmost reserve, and is very diffident ; but, 
at the same time, he is firm and unchangeable in 
whatever he undertakes. His modesty must be 
very astonishing, especially to a Frenchman." 

British travellers have left a number of pen-por- 
traits. An anonymous writer in 1790 declared that 
in meeting him " it was not necessary" to announce 
his name, for his peculiar appearance, his firm fore- 
head, Roman nose, and a projection of the lower 
jaw, his height and figure, could not be mistaken by 
any one who had seen a full-length picture of him, 
and yet no picture accurately resembled him in the 

42 



PHYSIQUE 

minute traits of his person. His features, however, 
were so marked by prominent characteristics, which 
appear in all likenesses of him, that a stranger could 
not be mistaken in the man ; he was remarkably 
dignified in his manners, and had an air of benignity 
over his features which his visitant did not expect, 
being rather prepared for sternness of countenance. 
. . . his smile was extraordinarily attractive. It 
was observed to me that there was an expression in 
Washington's face that no painter had succeeded in 
taking. It struck me no man could be better formed 
for command. A stature of six feet, a robust, but 
well-proportioned frame, calculated to sustain fatigue, 
without that heaviness which generally attends great 
muscular strength, and abates active exertion, dis- 
played bodily power of no mean standard. A light 
eye and full — the very eye of genius and reflection 
rather than of blind passionate impulse. His nose 
appeared thick, and though it befitted his other 
features, was too coarsely and strongly formed to be 
the handsomest of its class. His mouth was like no 
other that I ever saw ; the lips firm and the under 
jaw seeming to grasp the upper with force, as if its 
muscles were in full action when he sat still." 

Two years later, an English diplomat wrote of 
him, '' His person is tall and sufficiently graceful ; 
his face well formed, his complexion rather pale, 
with a mild philosophic gravity in the expression of it. 
In his air and manner he displays much natural dig- 
nity ; in his address he is cold, reserved, and even 
phlegmatic, though without the least appearance of 
haughtiness or ill-nature ; it is the effect, I imagine, 

4i 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

of constitutional diffidence. That caution and cir- 
cumspection which form so striking and well known 
a feature in his military, and, indeed, in his political 
character, is very strongly marked in his countenance, 
for his eyes retire inward (do you understand me ?) 
and have nothing of fire of animation or openness in 
their expression." 

Wansey, who visited Mount Vernon in 1795, por- 
trayed "The President in his person" as "tall and 
thin, but erect ; rather of an engaging than a digni- 
fied presence. He appears very thoughtful, is slow 
in delivering himself, which occasions some to con- 
clude him reserved, but it is rather, I apprehend, the 
effect of much thinking and reflection, for there is 
great appearance to me of affability and accommo- 
dation. He was at this time in his sixty-third year 
. . . but he has very little the appearance of age, 
having been all his life long so exceeding temperate." 

In 1797, Weld wrote, "his chest is full; and his 
limbs, though rather slender, well shaped and mus- 
cular. His head is small, in which respect he re- 
sembles the make of a great number of his country- 
men. His eyes are of a light grey colour ; and in 
proportion to the length of his face, his nose is long. 
Mr. Stewart, the eminent portrait painter, told me, 
that there were features in his face totally different 
from what he ever observed in that of any other 
human being ; the sockets for the eyes, for instance, 
are larger than what he ever met with before, and 
the upper part of the nose broader. All his features, 
he observed, were indicative of the strongest and 
most ungovernable passions, and had he been born 

44 



PHYSIQUE 

in the forests, it was his opinion that he would have 
been the fiercest man among the savage tribes." 

Other and briefer descriptions contain a few 
phrases worth quoting. Samuel Sterns said, " His 
countenance commonly carries the impression of a 
serious cast ;" Maclay, that ** the President seemed to 
bear in his countenance a settled aspect of melan- 
choly ;" and the Prince de Broglie wrote, *' His pen- 
sive eyes seem more attentive than sparkling, but 
their expression is benevolent, noble and self- 
possessed." Silas Deane in 1/75 said he had "a 
very young look and an easy soldier-like air and ges- 
ture," and in the same year Cui-wen mentioned his 
''fine figure" and ''easy and agreeable address." 
Nathaniel Lawrence noted in 1783 that "the Gen- 
eral weighs commonly about 210 pounds." After 
death, Lear reports that " Doctor Dick measured the 
body, which was as follows — In length 6 ft. 3^ 
inches exact. Across the shoulders 1.9. Across the 
elbows 2.1." The pleasantest description is Jeffer- 
son's : " His person, you know, was fine, his stature 
exactly what one would wish, his deportment easy, 
erect and noble." 

How far the portraits of Washington conveyed his 
expression is open to question. The quotation 
already given which said that no picture accurately 
resembled him in the minute traits of his person is 
worth noting. Furthermore, his expression varied 
much according to circumstances, and the painter 
saw it only in repose. The first time he was drawn, 
he wrote a friend, "Inclination having yielded to 
Importunity, I am now contrary to all expectation 

45 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

under the hands of Mr. Peale ; but in so grave — so 
sullen a mood — and now and then under the influ- 
ence of Morpheus, when some critical strokes are 
making, that I fancy the skill of this Gendeman's 
Pencil will be put to it, in describing to the World 
what manner of man I am." This passiveness seems 
to have seized him at other sittings, for in 1785 he 
wrote to a friend who asked him to be painted, ''In 
for a pemiyy in for a Ponndy is an old adage. I am 
so hackneyed to the touches of the painter's pencil 
that I am now altogether at their beck ; and sit * like 
Patience on a monument,' whilst they are delineating 
the lines of my face. It is a proof, among many 
others, of what habit and custom can accomplish. 
At first I was as impatient at the request, and as 
restive under the operation, as a colt is of the 
saddle. The next time I submitted very reluctantly, 
but with less flouncing. Now, no dray-horse moves 
more readily to his thills than I to the painter's 
chair." His aide, Laurens, bears this out by writing 
of a miniature, " The defects of this portrait are, 
that the visage is too long, and old age is too 
strongly marked in it. He is not altogether mis- 
taken, with respect to the languor of the general's 
eye ; for altho' his countenance when affected either 
by joy or anger, is full of expression, yet when the 
muscles are in a state of repose, his eye certainly 
wants animation." 

One portrait which furnished Washington not a 
little amusement was an engraving issued in Lon- 
don in 1775, when interest in the ** rebel General" 
was great. This likeness, it is needless to say, was 

46 




FIRST (FICTITIOUS) ENGRAVED PORTRAIT OF WASHINGTON 



PHYSIQUE 

entirely spurious, and when Reed sent a copy to 
head-quarters, Washington wrote to him, ** Mrs. 
Washington desires I will thank you for the picture 
sent her. Mr. Campbell, whom I never saw, to my 
knowledge, has made a very formidable figure of 
the Commander-in-chief, giving him a sufficient 
portion of terror in his countenance." 

The physical strength mentioned by nearly every 
one who described Washinp;ton is so undoubted 
that the traditions of his climbing the walls of the 
Natural Bridge, throwing a stone across the Rap- 
pahannock at Fredericksburg, and another into the 
Hudson from the top of the Palisades, pass current 
more from the supposed muscular power of the man 
than from any direct evidence. In addition to this, 
Washington in 1755 claimed to have " one of the 
best of constitutions," and again he wrote, " for my 
own part I can answer, I have a constitution hardy 
enough to encounter and undergo the most severe 
Jrials." 

This vigor was not the least reason of Washing- 
ton's success. In the retreat from Brooklyn, "for 
forty-eight hours preceeding that I had hardly 
been off my horse," and between the 13th and 
the 19th of June of 1777 'T was almost constantly 
on horseback." After the battle of Monmouth, as 
told elsewhere, he passed the night on a blanket ; the 
first night of the siege of York "he slept under a 
mulberry tree, the root serving for a pillow," and 
another time he lay "all night in my Great Coat & 
Boots, in a birth not long enough for me by the 
head, & much cramped." Besides the physical 

47 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

strain there was a mental one. During the siege 
of Boston he wrote that "The reflection on my 
situation and that of this army, produces many an 
uneasy hour when all around me are wrapped in 
sleep." Humphreys relates that at Newburg in 
1783 a revolt of the whole army seemed imminent, 
and ''when General Washington rose from bed on 
the morning of the meeting, he told the writer his 
anxiety had prevented him from sleeping one 
moment the preceeding night." Washington ob- 
served, in a letter written after the Revolution, 
''strange as it may seem, it is nevertheless true, 
that it was not until lately I could get the better 
of my usual custom of ruminating as soon as I 
awoke in the morning, on the business of the en- 
suing day ; and of my surprise at finding, after re- 
volving many things in my mind that I was no 
longer a pubHc man, or had any thing to do with 
public transactions." 

Despite his strength and constitution, Washington 
was frequently the victim of illness. What diseases 
of childhood he suffered are not known, but pre- 
sumably measles was among them, for when his 
wife within the first year of married life had an 
attack he cared for her without catching the com- 
plaint. The first of his known illnesses was "Ague 
and Feaver, which I had to an extremity" about 
1748, or when he was sixteen. 

In the sea voyage to Barbadoes in 175 1, the 
seamen told Washington that "they had never seen 
such weather before," and he says in his diary that 
the sea "made the Ship rowl much and me very 

48 



PHYSIQUE 

sick." While in the island, he went to dine with a 
friend ''with great reluctance, as the small-pox was 
in his family." A fortnight later Washington *'was 
strongly attacked with the small Pox," which con- 
fined him for nearly a month, and, as already noted, 
marked his face for life. Shortly after the return 
voyage he was ** taken with a violent pleurise, which 
. . . reduced me very low." 

During the Braddock march, ''immediately upon 
our leaving the camp at George's Creek, on the 
14th, . . . I was seized with violent fevers and pains 
in my head, which continued without intermission 
'till the 23d following, when I was relieved, by the 
General's [Braddock] absolutely ordering the physi- 
cians to give me Dr. James' powders (one of the 
most excellent medicines in the world), for it gave 
me immediate ease, and removed my fevers and 
other complaints in four days' time. My illness 
was too violent to suffer me to ride ; therefore I was 
indebted to a covered wagon for some part of my 
transportation ; but even in this I could not con- 
tinue far, for the jolting was so great, I was left 
upon the road with a guard, and necessaries, to wait 
the arrival of Colonel Dunbar's detachment which 
was two days' march behind us, the General giving 
me his word of honor, that I should be brought up, 
before he reached the French fort. This promise, 
and the doctor's threats, that, if I persevered in my 
attempts to get on, in the condition I was, my life 
tvould be endangered, determined me to halt for the 
above detachment." Immediately upon his return 
from that campaign, he told a brother, "I am not 
4 49 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

able, were I ever so willing, to meet you in town, 
for I assure you it is with some difficulty, and with 
much fatigue, that I visit my plantations in the 
Neck ; so much has a sickness of five weeks' con- 
tinuance reduced me." 

On the frontier, towards the end of 1757, he was 
seized with a violent attack of dysentery and fever, 
which compelled him to leave the army and retire 
to Mount Vernon. Three months later he said, **I 
have never been able to return to my command, 
. . . my disorder at times returning obstinately 
upon me, in spite of the efforts of all the sons of 
iEsculapius, whom I have hitherto consulted. At 
certain periods I have been reduced to great ex- 
tremity, and have too much reason to apprehend 
an approaching decay, being visited with several 
symptoms of such a disease. ... I am now under 
a strict regimen, and shall set out tomorrow for 
Williamsburg to receive the advice of the best phy- 
sician there. My constitution is certainly greatly 
impaired, and . . . nothing can retrieve it, but the 
greatest care and the most circumspect conduct." 
It was in this journey that he met his future wife, 
and either she or the doctor cured him, for nothing- 
more is heard of his approaching "decay." 

In 1 76 1 he was attacked with a disease which 
seems incidental to new settlements, known in Vir- 
ginia at that time as the ** river fever," and a hun- 
dred years later, farther west, as the "break-bone 
fever," and which, in a far milder form, is to-day 
known as malaria. Hoping to cure it, he went over 
the mountains to the Warm Springs, being " much 

50 



PHYSIQUE 

overcome with the fatigue of the ride and weather 
together. However, I think my fevers are a good 
deal abated, although my pains grow rather worse, 
and my sleep equally disturbed. What effect the 
waters may have upon me I can't say at present, 
but I expect nothing from the air — this certainly 
must be unwholesome. I purpose staying here a 
fortnight and longer if benefitted." After writing 
this, a relapse brought him '^ very near my last gasp. 
The indisposition . . . increased upon me, and I 
fell into a very low and dangerous state. I once 
thought the grim king would certainly master my 
utmost efforts, and that I must sink, in spite of a 
noble struggle ; but thank God, I have now got the 
better of the disorder, and shall soon be restored, I 
hope, to perfect health again." 

During the Revolution, fortunately, he seems to 
have been wonderfully exempt from illness, and not 
till his retirement to Mount Vernon did an old 
enemy, the ague, reappear. In 1786 he said, in a 
letter, "I write to you with a very aching head and 
disordered frame. . . . Saturday last, by an im- 
prudent act, I brought on an ague and fever on 
Sunday, which returned with violence Tuesday and 
Thursday ; and, if Dr. Craik's efforts are ineffectual 
I shall have them again this day." His diary gives 
the treatment : " Seized with an ague before 6 o'clock 
this morning after having laboured under a fever all 
night — Sent for Dr. Craik who arrived just as we 
were setting down to dinner ; who, when he thought 
my fever sufficiently abated gave me cathartick 
and directed the Bark to be applied in the Morning. 

51 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

September 2. Kept close to the House to day, 
being my fit day in course least any exposure might 
bring it on, — happily missed it. September 14. 
At home all day repeating dozes of Bark of which I 
took 4 with an interval of 2 hours between." 

With 1787 a new foe appeared in the form of ** a 
rheumatic complaint which has followed me more 
than six months, is frequently so bad that it is some- 
times with difficulty I can raise my hand to my head 
or turn myself in bed." 

During the Presidency Washington had several 
dangerous illnesses, but the earliest one had a comic 
side. In his tour through New England in 1789, 
so Sullivan states, " owing to some mismanagement 
in the reception ceremonials at Cambridge, Wash- 
ington was detained a long time, and the weather 
being inclement, he took cold. For several days 
afterward a severe influenza prevailed at Boston 
and its vicinity, and was called the WasJiington 
Influenzal He himself writes of this attack: " My- 
self much disordered by a cold, and inflammation in 
the left eye." 

Six months later, in New York, he was *' indis- 
posed with a bad cold, and at home all day writing 
letters on private business," and this was the begin- 
ning of *' a severe illness," which, according to 
McVickar, was " a case of anthrax, so malignant as 
for several days to threaten mortification. During 
this period Dr. Bard never quitted him. On one 
occasion, being left alone with him, General Wash- 
ington, looking steadily in his face, desired his can- 
did opinion as to the probable termination of his 

52 



PHYSIQUE 

disease, adding, with that placid firmness which 
marked his address, * Do not flatter me with vain 
hopes ; I am not afraid to die, and therefore can 
bear the worst !' Dr. Bard's answer, though it 
expressed hope, acknowledged his apprehensions. 
The President replied, 'Whether to-night or twenty 
years hence, makes no difference.* " It was of this 
that Maclay wrote, *' Called to see the President. 
Every eye full of tears. His life despaired of Dr. 
MacKnight told me he would trifle neither with his 
own character nor the public expectation ; his 
danger was imminent, and every reason to expect 
that the event of his disorder would be unfortunate." 
During his convalescence the President wrote to 
a correspondent, *' I have the pleasure to inform 
you, that my health is restored, but a feebleness still 
hangs upon me, and I am much incommoded by 
the incision, which was made in a very large and 
painful tumor on the protuberance of my thigh. 
This prevents me from walking or sitting. How- 
ever, the physicians assure me that it has had a 
happy effect in removing my fever, and will tend 
very much to the establishment of my general health ; 
it is in a fair way of healing, and time and patience 
only are wanting to remove this evil. I am able to 
take exercise in my coach, by having it so contrived 
as to extend myself the full length of it." He him- 
self seems to have thought this succession of illness 
due to the fatigues of office, for he said, — 

*' Public meetings, and a dinner once a week to as many as my 
table will hold, with the references to and fro7n the different depart- 
ment of state and other communications with all parts of the Union, 

53 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

• 

are as much, if not more, than I am able to undergo ; for I have 
already had within less than a year, two severe attacks, the last 
worst than the first. A third, more than probable, will put me to 
sleep with my fathers. At what distance this may be I know not. 
"Within the last twelve months I have undergone more and severer 
sickness, than thirty preceding years afflicted me with. Put it all 
together I have abundant reason, however, to be thankful that I am 
so well recovered ; though I still feel the remains of the violent 
affection of my lungs ; the cough, pain in my breast, and shortness 
in breathing not having entirely left me." 

While at Mount Vernon in 1794, "an exertion to 
save myself and horse from falling among the rocks 
at the Lower Falls of the Potomac (whither I went 
on Sunday morning to see the canal and locks), . . . 
wrenched my back in such a manner as to prevent 
my riding ;" the " hurt" '* confined me whilst I was at 
Mount Vernon," and it was some time before he 
could ''again ride with ease and safety." In this 
same year Washington was operated on by Dr. 
Tate for cancer, — the same disorder from which his 
mother had suffered. 

After his retirement from office, in 1 798, he " was 
seized with a fever, of which I took little notice 
until I was obliged to call for the aid of medicine ; 
and with difficulty a remission thereof was so far ef- 
fected as to dose me all night on thursday with Bark — 
which having stopped it, and weakness only remain- 
ing, will soon wear off as my appetite is returning ;" 
and to a correspondent he apologized for not soonel 
replying, and pleaded " debilitated health, occa- 
sioned by the fever wch. deprived ' me of 20 lbs. of 
the weight I had when you and I were at Troy Mills 
Scales, and rendered writing irksome." 

A glance at Washington's medical knowledge and 
54 



PHYSIQUE 

opinions may not lack interest. In the ** Rules 
of civility" he had taken so to heart, the boy had 
been taught that '* In visiting the Sick, do not Pres. 
ently play the Physician if you be not Knowing 
therein," but plantation life trained every man to a 
certain extent in physicking, and the yearly invoice 
sent to London always ordered such drugs as were 
needed, — ipecacuanha, jalap, Venice treacle, rhubarb, 
diacordium, etc., as well as medicines for horses and 
dogs. In 1755 Washington received great benefit 
from one quack medicine, ''Dr. James's Powders;" 
he once bought a quantity of another, " Godfrey's 
Cordial ;" and at a later time Mrs. Washington 
tried a third, "Annatipic Pills." More unenlight- 
ened still was a treatment prescribed for Patsy 
Custis, when "Joshua Evans who came here last 
night, put a [metal] ring on Patsey (for Fits)." A 
not much higher order of treatment was Washington 
sending for Dr. Laurie to bleed his wife, and, as 
his diary notes, the doctor *' came here, I may add, 
drunk," so that a night's sleep was necessary before 
the service could be rendered. When the small-pox 
was raging in the Continental Army, even Washing- 
ton's earnest request could not get the Virginia 
Assembly to repeal a law which forbade inoculation, 
and he had to urge his wife for over four years before 
he could bring her to the point of submitting to the 
operation. One quality which implies greatness is 
told by a visitor, who states that in his call " an allu- 
sion was made to a serious fit of illness he had 
recently suffered ; but he took no notice of it." 
Custis notes that *'his aversion to the use of medi- 

55 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

• 

cine was extreme ; and, even when in great suffering, 
it was only by the entreaties of his lady, and the 
respectful, yet beseeching look of his oldest friend 
and companion in arms (Dr. James Craik) that he 
could be prevailed upon to take the slightest prep- 
aration of medicine." In line with this was his 
refusal to take anything for a cold, saying, " Let it go 
as it came," though this good sense was apparently 
restricted to his own colds, for Watson relates that 
in a visit to Mount Vernon ^* I was extremely op- 
pressed by a severe cold and excessive coughing, 
contracted by the exposure of a harsh journey. He 
pressed me to use some remedies, but I declined 
doing so. As usual, after retiring my coughing in- 
creased. When some time had elapsed, the door 
of my room was gently opened, and, on drawing my 
bed-curtains, to my utter astonishment, I beheld 
Washington himself, standing at my bedside, with a 
bowl of hot tea in his hand." 

' The acute attacks of illness already touched upon 
by no means represent all the physical debihty and 
suffering of Washington's life. During the Revolu- 
tion his sight became poor, so that in 1778 he first put 
on glasses for reading, and Cobb relates that in the 
officers' meeting in 1783, which Washington attended 
in order to check an appeal to arms, "When the 
General took his station at the desk or pulpit, which, 
you may recollect, was in the Temple, he took out 
his written address from his coat pocket and then 
addressed the officers in the following manner : 
'Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spec- 
tacles, for I have not only grown gray, but almost 

56 



PHYSIQUE 

blind, in the service of my country.' This Httle 
address, with the mode and manner of deHvering it, 
drew tears from [many] of the officers." 

Nor did his hearing remain entirely good. Maclay 
noted, at one of the President's dinners in 1789, that 
'* he seemed in more good humor than I ever saw 
him, though he was so deaf that I beheve he heard 
httle of the conversation," and three years later the 
President is reported as saying to Jefferson that he 
was "sensible, too, of a decay of his hearing, perhaps 
his other faculties might fall off and he not be 
sensible of it." 

Washington's teeth were even more troublesome. 
Mercer in 1760 alluded to his showing, when his 
mouth was open, "some defective teeth," and as 
early as 1754 one of his teeth was extracted. From 
this time toothache, usually followed by the extrac- 
tion of the guilty member, became almost of yearly 
recurrence, and his diary reiterates, with verbal 
variations, "indisposed with an aching tooth, and 
swelled and inflamed gum," while his ledger con- 
tains many items typified by " To Dr. Watson draw- 
ing a tooth 5/." By 1789 he was using false teeth, 
and he lost his last tooth in 1795. At first these 
substitutes were very badly fitted, and when Stuart 
painted his famous picture he tried to remedy the 
malformation they gave the mouth by padding under 
the lips with cotton. The result was to make bad 
worse, and to give, in that otherwise fine portrait, a 
feature at once poor and unlike Washington, and 
for this reason alone the Sharpless miniature, which 
in all else approximates so closely to Stuart's master- 

57 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

piece, is preferable. In 1796 Washington was fur- 
nished with two sets of "sea-horse" (i.e., hippopot- 
amus) ivory teeth, and they were so much better 
fitted that the distortion of the mouth ceased to be 
noticeable. 

Washington's final illness began December 12, 
1799, in a severe cold taken by riding about his 
plantation while **rain, hail and snow" were "falling 
alternately, with a cold wind." When he came in 
late in the afternoon, Lear " observed to him that 
I was afraid that he had got wet, he said no his 
great coat had kept him dry ; but his neck appeared 
to be wet and the snow was hanging on his hair." 
The next day he had a cold, " and complained of 
having a sore throat," yet, though it was snowing, 
none the less he "went out in the afternoon ... to 
mark some trees which were to be cut down." 
" He had a hoarseness which increased in the even- 
ing; but he made light of it as he would never take 
anything to carry off a cold, always observing, 'let 
it go as it came.' " At two o'clock the following 
morning he was seized with a severe ague, and 
as soon as the house was stirring he sent for an 
overseer and ordered the man to bleed him, and 
about half a pint of blood was taken from him. 
At this time he could "swallow nothing," "ap- 
peared to be distressed, convulsed and almost suf- 
focated." 

There can be scarcely a doubt that the treatment 
of his last illness by the doctors was little short of 
murder Although he had been bled once already, 
after they took charge of the case they prescribed 

58 



PHYSIQUE 

"two pretty copious bleedings," and finally a third, 
"when about 32 ounces of blood were drawn," or 
the equivalent of a quart. Of the three doctors, 
one disapproved of this treatment, and a second 
wrote, only a few days after Washington's death, 
to the third, ''you must remember" Dr. Dick "was 
averse to bleeding the General, and I have often 
thought that if we had acted according to his sug- 
gestion when he said, 'he needs all his strength — 
bleeding will diminish it,' and taken no more blood 
from him, our good friend might have been alive 
now. But we were governed by the best light 
we had ; we thought we were right, and so we are 
justified." 

Shortly after this last bleeding Washington seemed 
to have resigned himself, for he gave some direc- 
tions concerning his will, and said, "I find I am 
going," and, "smiling," added, that, "as it was the 
debt which we must all pay, he looked to the event 
with perfect resignation." From this time on "he 
appeared to be in great pain and distress," and said, 
" Doctor, I die hard, but I am not afraid to go. I 
believed from my first attack that I should not sur- 
vive it." A httle later he said, "I feel myself going. 
I thank you for your attention, you had better not 
take any more trouble about me ; but let me go off 
quietly." The last words he said were, " 'Tis well." 
"About ten minutes before he expired, his breathing 
became much easier — he lay quietly — . . . and 
felt his own pulse. . . . The general's hand fell 
from his wrist, . . and he expired without a strug- 
gle or a Sigh." 

59 



ill 

EDUCATION 

The father of Washington received his education 
at Appleby School in England, and, true to his 
alma mater, he sent his two elder sons to the same 
school. His death when George was eleven pre- 
vented this son from having the same advantage, 
and such education as he had was obtained in Vir- 
ginia. His old friend, and later enemy. Rev. Jona- 
than Boucher, said that ** George, like most people 
thereabouts at that time, had no education than 
reading, writing and accounts which he was taught 
by a convict servant whom his father bought for a 
schoolmaster;" but Boucher managed to include so 
many inaccuracies in his account of Washington, that 
even if this statement were not certainly untruthful in 
several respects, it could be dismissed as valueless. 

Born at Wakefield, in Washington parish, West- 
moreland, which had been the home of the Wash- 
ingtons from their earliest arrival in Virginia, George 
was too young while the family continued there to 
attend the school which had been founded in that 
parish by the gift of four hundred and forty acres 
from some early patron of knowledge. When the 
boy was about three years old, the family removed 
to ** Washington," as Mount Vernon was called 
before it was renamed, and dwelt there from 1/35 

60 



EDUCATION 

till 1739, when, owing to the burning of the home- 
stead, another remove was made to an estate on the 
Rappahannock, nearly opposite Fredericksburg. 

Here it was that the earliest education of George 
was received, for in an old volume of the Bishop of 
Exeter's Sermons his name is written, and on a fly- 
leaf a note in the handwriting of a relative who 
inherited the library states that this ''autograph of 
George Washington's name is believed to be the 
earliest specimen of his handwriting, when he was 
probably not more than eight or nine years old." 
During this period, too, there came into his posses- 
sion the ** Young Man's Companion," an English 
vade-meaim of then enormous popularity, written 
"in a plain and easy stile," the title states, ''that a 
young Man may attain the same, without a Tutor." 
It would be easier to say what this little book did 
not teach than to catalogue what it did. How to 
read, write, and figure is but the introduction to 
the larger part of the work, which taught one 
to write letters, wills, deeds, and all legal forms, to 
measure, survey, and navigate, to build houses, to 
make ink and cider, and to plant and graft, how to 
address letters to people of quality, how to doctor 
the sick, and, finally, how to conduct one's self in 
company. The evidence still exists of how carefully 
Washington studied this book, in the form of copy- 
books, in which are transcribed problem after prob- 
lem and rule after rule, not to exclude the famous 
Rules of civility, which biographers of Washington 
have asserted were written by the boy himself 
School-mates thought fit, after Washington became 



THE TRUE GEQRGE WASHINGTON 

famous, to remember his ''industry and assiduity at 
school as very remarkable," and the copies certainly 
bear out the statement, but even these prove that 
the lad was as human as the man, for scattered here 
and there among the logarithms, geometrical prob- 
lems, and legal forms are crude drawings of birds, 
faces, and other typical school-boy attempts. 

From this book, too, came two qualities which 
clung to him through life. His handwriting, so 
easy, flowing, and legible, was modelled from the 
engraved ''copy" sheet, and certain forms of spelling 
were acquired here that were never corrected, though 
not the common usage of his time. To the end of 
his life, Washington wrote lie, lye; liar, lyar; ceiling, 
cieling ; oil, oyl ; and blue, blew, as in his boyhood 
he had learned to do from this book. Even in his 
carefully prepared will, "lye" was the form in which 
he wrote the word. It must be acknowledged that, 
aside from these errors which he had been taught, 
through his whole life Washington was a non-con- 
formist as regarded the King's English : struggle 
as he undoubtedly did, the instinct of correct 
spelling was absent, and thus every now and then 
a verbal slip appeared : extravagence, lettely (for 
lately), glew, riffle (for rifle), latten (for Latin), 
immagine, winder, rief (for rife), oppertunity, spirma 
citi, yellow oaker, — such are types of his lapses late 
in life, while his earlier letters and journals are far 
more inaccurate. It must be borne in mind, how- 
ever, that of these latter we have only the draughts, 
which were undoubtedly written carelessly, and the 
two letters actually sent which are now known, and 

62 



The Toung Mans Companion. 77 



Eaf) Copies to Write by» 




OOPY OF PENMANSHIP BY WHICH WASHINGTON'S HANDWRITING 
WAS FORMED 



EDUCATION 

the text of his surveys before he was twenty, are 
quite as well written as his later epistles. 

On the death of his father, Washington went to 
live with his brother Augustine, in order, it is pre- 
sumed, that he might take advantage of a good 
school near Wakefield, kept by one Williams ; but 
after a time he returned to his mother's, and attended 
the school kept by the Rev. James Marye, in Fred- 
ericksburg. It has been universally asserted by his 
biographers that he studied no foreign language, 
but direct proof to the contrary exists in a copy of 
Patrick's Latin translation of Homer, printed in 
1742, the fly-leaf of a copy of which bears, in a 
school-boy hand, the inscription : 

•' Hunc mihi quaeso (bone Vir) Libellum 
Redde, si forsan tenues repertum 
Ut Scias qui sum sine fraude Scrip turn. 

Est mihi nomen, 

Georgio Washington, 

George Washington, 
Fredericksburg, 

Virginia. ' ' 

It is thus evident that the reverend teacher gave 
Washington at least the first elements of Latin, but 
it is equally clear that the boy, like most others, 
forgot it with the greatest facility as soon as h(^ 
ceased studying. 

The end of Washington's school-days left him, if 
a good ''cipherer," a bad speller, and a still worse 
grammarian, but, fortunately, the termination of in- 
struction did not by any means end his education. 
From that time there is to be noted a steady im- 

63 



THE TRUE GEOilGE WASHINGTON 

provement in both these failings. Pickering stated 
that "when I first became acquainted with the Gen- 
eral (in 1777) his writing was defective in grammar^ 
and even spelHng, owing to the insufficiency of his 
early education ; of which, however, he gradually got 
the better in the subsequent years of his life, by the 
official perusal of some excellent models, particularly 
those of Hamilton ; by writing with care and patient 
attention ; and reading numerous, indeed multitudes 
of, letters to and from his friends and correspondents. 
This obvious improvement was begun during the 
war." In 1785 a contemporary noted that "the 
General is remarked for writing a most elegant 
letter," adding that, " like the famous Addison, his 
writing excells his speaking," and Jefferson said that 
"he wrote readily, rather diffusely, in an easy and 
correct style. This he had acquired by conversation 
with the world, for his education was merely read- 
ing, writing and common arithmetic, to which he 
added surveying at a later day." 

There can be no doubt that Washington felt his 
lack of education very keenly as he came to act 
upon a larger sphere than as a Virginia planter. "I 
am sensible," he wrote a friend, of his letters, "that 
the narrations are just, and that truth and honesty 
will appear in my writings ; of which, therefore, I 
shall not be ashamed, though criticism may censure 
my style." When his secretary suggested to him 
that he should write his own life, he replied, "In a 
former letter I informed you, my dear Humphreys, 
that if I had talents for it, I have not leisune to turn 
my thoughts to Commentaries. A consciousness of 

64 



EDUCATION 

a defective education, and a certainty of the want 
of time, unfit me for such an undertaking." On 
being pressed by a French comrade-in-arms to pay 
France a visit, he dechned, saying, ** Remember, my 
good friend, that I am unacquainted with your 
language, that I am too far advanced in years to ac- 
quire a knowledge of it, and that, to converse 
through the medium of an interpreter upon common 
occasions, especially with the Ladies, must appear 
so extremely awkward, insipid, and uncouth, that I 
can scarce bear it in idea." 

In 1788, without previous warning, he was elected 
chancellor of William and Mary College, a distinc- 
tion by which he felt *' honored and greatly affected ;" 
but "not knowing particularly what duties, or 
whether any active services are immediately ex- 
pected from the person holding the office of chan- 
cellor, I have been greatly embarrassed in deciding 
upon the public answer proper to be given. . . . 
My difficulties are briefly these. On the one hand, 
nothing in this world could be farther from my heart, 
than ... a refusal of the appointment . . . pro- 
vided its duties are not incompatible with the mode 
of life to which I have entirely addicted myself ; and, 
on the other hand, I would not for any consideration 
disappoint the just expectations of the convocation 
by accepting an office, whose functions I previously 
knew ... I should be absolutely unable to per- 
form." 

Perhaps the most touching proof of his own self- 
depreciation was something he did when he had 
become conscious that his career would be written 
s 6s 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

about Still in his possession were the letter-books 
in which he had kept copies of his correspond- 
ence while in command of the Virginia regiment 
between 1754 and 1759, and late in hfe he went 
through these volumes, and, by interlining correc- 
tions, carefully built them into better literary form. 
How this was done is shown here by a single fac- 
simile. 

With the appointment to command the Conti- 
nental Army, a secretary was secured, and in an 
absence of this assistant he complained to him that 
" my business increases very fast, and my distresses 
for w^ant of you along with it Mr. Harrison is the 
only gentleman of my family, that can afford me 
the least assistance in writing. He and Mr. Moy- 
lan, . . . have heretofore afforded me their aid ; and 
. . . they have really had a great deal of trouble," 

Most of Washington's correspondence during 
the Revolution was written by his aides. Pickering 
said, — 

"As to the public letters bearing his signature, it is certain that 
he could not have maintained so extensive a correspondence with 
his own pen, even if he had possessed the ability and promptness of 
Hamilton. That he would, sometimes with propriety, observe 
upon, correct, and add to any draught submitted for his exami- 
nation and signature, I have no doubt. And yet I doubt whether 
many, if any, of the letters ... are his own draught. ... I have 
even reason to believe that not only the composition, the clothing of 
the ideas, but the ideas themselves, originated generally with the 
writers ; that Hamilton and Harrison, in particular, were scarcely 
in any degree his amanuenses. I remember, when at head-quarters 
one day, at Valley Forge, Colonel Harrison came down from the 
General's chamber, with his brows knit, and thus accosted me, • I 
wish to the Lord the General would give me the heads or some idea, 
of what he would have me write.' " 

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CORRECTED LETTER OF WASHINGTON SHOWING LATER CHANGES 



EDUCATION 

After the Revolution, a visitor at Mount Vernon 
said, " It's astonishing the packet of letters that daily 
comes for him from all parts of the world, which 
employ him most of the morning to answer." A 
secretary was employed, but not so much to do the 
actual writing as the copying and filing, and at this 
time Washington complained *' that my numerous 
correspondencies are daily becoming irksome to 
me." Yet there can be little question that he richly 
enjoyed writing when it was not for the public eye. 
" It is not the letters of my friends which give 
me trouble," he wrote to one correspondent; to 
another he said, " I began with telling you that I 
should not write a lengthy letter but the result has 
been to contradict it ;" and to a third, '* when I 
look back to the length of this letter, I am so much 
astonished and frightened at it myself that I have 
not the courage to give it a careful reading for the 
purpose of correction. You must, therefore, re- 
ceive it with all its imperfections, accompanied with 
this assurance, that, though there may be inaccu- 
racies in the letter, there is not a single defect in the 
friendship." Occasionally there was, as here, an 
apology : ** I am persuaded you will excuse this 
scratch' d scrawl, when I assure you it is with diffi- 
culty I write at all," he ended a letter in 1777, and 
in 1792 of another said, ** You must receive it blotted 
and scratched as you find it for I have not time to 
copy it. It is now ten o'clock at night, after my 
usual hour for retiring to rest, and the mail will be 
closed early to-morrow morning." 

To his overseer, who neglected to reply to some 
67 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

of his questions, he told his method of writing, which 
is worth quoting : 

" WTienever I set down to write you, I read your letter, or letters 
carefully over, and as soon as I come to a part that requires to be 
noticed, I make a short note on the cover of a letter or piece of 
waste paper ; — then read on the next, noting that in like manner ; — 
and so on until I have got through the whole letter and reports. 
Then in writing my letter to you, as soon as I have finished what I 
have to say on one of these notes I draw my pen through it and pro- 
ceed to another and another until the whole is done — crossing each 
as I go on, by v/hich means if I am called off twenty times whilst I 
am writing, I can never with these notes before me finished or un- 
finished, omit anything I wanted to say ; and they serve me also, as 
I keep no copies of letters I wrote to you, as Memorandums of what 
has been written if I should have occasion at any time to refer to 
them." 

Another indication of his own knowledge of de- 
fects is shown by his fear about his public papers. 
When his Journal to the Ohio was printed by order 
of the governor, in 1754, in the preface the young 
author said, **I think I can do no less than apolo- 
gize, in some Measure, for the numberless imper- 
fections of it. There intervened but one Day 
between my Arrival in Williamsburg, and the Time 
for the Council's Meeting, for me to prepare and 
transcribe, from the rough Minutes I had taken in 
my Travels, this Journal ; the writing of which only 
was sufficient to employ me closely the whole Time, 
consequently admitted of no Leisure to consult of a 
new and proper Form to offer it in, or to correct or 
amend the Diction of the old." Boucher states 
that the publication, "in Virginia at least, drew on 
him some ridicule." 

This anxiety about his writings was shown all 
6$ 



EDUCATION 

through Hfe, and led Washington to rely greatly on 
such of his friends as would assist him, even to the 
point, so Reed thought, that he '* sometimes adopted 
draughts of writing when his own would have been 
better . . . from an extreme diffidence in himself," 
and Pickering said, in writing to an aide, — 

"Although the General's private correspondence was doubtless, 
for the most part, his own, and extremely acceptable to the persons 
addressed ; yet, in regard to whatever was destined to meet the 
public eye, he seems to have been fearful to exhibit his own compo- 
sitions, relying too much on the judgment of his friends, and 
sometimes adopted draughts that were exceptionable. Some parts 
of his private correspondence must have essentially differed from 
other parts in the style of composition. You mention your own aids 
to the General in this line. Now, if I had your draughts before me, 
mingled with the General's to the same persons, nothing would be 
more easy than to assign to each his own proper offspring. You 
could neither restrain your courser, nor conceal your imagery, nor 
express your ideas otherwise than in the language of a scholar. The 
General's compositions would be perfectly plain and didactic, and 
not always correct." 

During the Presidency, scarcely anything of a 
public nature was penned by Washington, — Hamil- 
ton, Jefferson, Madison, and Randolph acting as 
his draughtsmen. **We are approaching the first 
Monday in December by hasty strides," he wrote 
to Jefferson. " I pray you, therefore, to revolve 
in your mind such matters as may be proper for 
me to lay before Congress, not only in your own 
department, (if any there be,) but such others of 
a general nature, as may happen to occur to you, 
that I may be prepared to open the session with 
such communication, as shall appear to merit atten- 
tion." Two years later he said to the same, **1 

69 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

pray you to note down or rather to frame into 
paragraphs or sections, such matters as may occur 
to you as fit and proper for general communi- 
cation at the opening of the next session of Con- 
gress, not only in the department of state, but on 
any other subject applicable to the occasion, that 
I may in due time have everything before me." 
To Hamilton he wrote in 1795, "Having desired 
the late Secretary of State to note down every mat- 
ter as it occurred, proper either for the speech at 
the opening of the session, or for messages after- 
wards, the inclosed paper contains everything I 
could extract from that office. Aid me, I pray you, 
with your sentiments on these points, and such 
others as may have occurred to you relative to my 
communications to Congress." 

The best instance is furnished in the preparation 
of the Farewell Address. First Madison was asked 
to prepare a draft, and from this Washington drew 
up a paper, which he submitted to Hamilton and 
Jay, with the request that ** even if you should 
think it best to throw the whole into a different 
form, let me request, notwithstanding, that my 
draught may be returned to me (along with yours) 
with such amendments and corrections as to render 
it as perfect as the formation is susceptible of; cur- 
tailed if too verbose ; and relieved of all tautology 
not necessary to enforce the ideas in the original or 
quoted part. My wish is that the whole may ap- 
pear in a plain style, and be handed to the public 
in an honest, unaffected, simple part." Accordingly, 
Hamilton prepared what was almost a new instru- 

70 



EDUCATION 

ment in form, though not in substance, which, 
after ''several serious and attentive readings," Wash- 
ington wrote that he preferred ''greatly to the other 
draughts, being more copious on material points, 
more dignified on the whole, and with less egotism ; 
of course, less exposed to criticism, and better cal- 
culated to meet the eye of discerning readers (for- 
eigners particularly, whose curiosity I have little 
doubt will lead them to inspect it attentively, and to 
pronounce their opinions on the performance)." 
The paper was then, according to Pickering, "put 
into the hands of Wolcott, McHenry, and myself 
. . . with a request that we would examine it, and 
note any alterations and corrections which we 
should think best. We did so ; but our notes, as 
well as I recollect, were very few, and regarded 
chiefly the grammar and composition." Finally, 
Washington revised the whole, and it was then made 
public. 

Confirmatory of this sense of imperfect cultivation 
are the pains he took that his adopted son and 
grandson should be well educated. As already 
noted, tutors for both were secured at the proper 
ages, and when Jack was placed with the Rev, Mr. 
Boucher, Washington wrote : " In respect to the 
kinds, & manner of his Studying I leave it wholely 
to your better Judgment — had he begun, or rather 
pursued his study of the Greek Language, I should 
have thought it no bad acquisition ; but whether if 
he acquire this now, he may not forego some use- 
ful branches of learning, is a matter worthy of con- 
sideration. To be acquainted with the French 

71 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Tongue is become part of polite Education ; and to 
a man who has the prospect of mixing in a large 
Circle absolutely necessary. Without Arithmetick, 
the common affairs of Life are not to be managed 
with success. The study of Geometry, and the 
Mathematics (with due regard to the limites of it) is 
equally advantageous. The principles of Philosophy 
Moral, Natural, &c. I should think a very desirable 
knowledge for a Gentleman." So, too, he wrote to 
Washington Custis, ** I do not hear you mention 
anything of geography or mathematics as parts of 
your study ; both these are necessary branches of 
useful knowledge. Nor ought you to let your 
knowledge of the Latin language and grammatical 
rules escape you. And the French language is now 
so universal, and so necessary with foreigners, or in 
a foreign country, that I think you would be inju- 
dicious not to make yourself master of it." It is 
worth noting in connection with this last sentence 
that Washington used only a single French expres- 
sion with any frequency, and that he always wrote 
** faupas." 

Quite as indicative of the value he put on educa- 
tion was the aid he gave towards sending his young 
relatives and others to college, his annual contribution 
to an orphan school, his subscriptions to academies, 
and his wish for a national university. In 1795 he 
said, — 

" It has always been a source of serious reflection and sincere re- 
gret with me, that the youth of the United States should be sent to 
foreign countries for the purpose of education. . . . For this reason 
I have greatly wished to see a plan adopted, by which the arts, sci- 

72 



EDUCATION 

ences, and belles-lettres could be taught in their fullest extent, 
thereby embracing all the advantages of European tuition, with the 
means of acquiring the liberal knowledge, which is necessary to 
qualify our citizens for the exigencies of public as well as private 
life ; and (which with me is a consideration of great magnitude) by 
assembling the youth from the different parts of this rising republic, 
contributing from their intercourse and interchange of information to 
the removal of prejudices, which might perhaps sometimes arise 
from local circumstances." 



In framing his Farewell Address, " revolving . . . 
on the various matters it contained and on the first 
expression of the advice or recommendation which 
was given in it, I have regretted that another subject 
(which in my estimation is of interesting concern to 
the well-being of this countiy) was not touched upon 
also ; I mean education generally, as one of the 
surest means of enlightening and giving just ways of 
thinking to our citizens, but particularly the estab- 
lishment of a university ; where the youth from all 
parts of the United States might receive the polish 
of erudition in the arts, sciences and belles-lettres." 
Eventually he reduced this idea to a plea for the 
people to "promote, then, as an object of primary 
importance, institutions for the general diffusion of 
knowledge," because "in proportion as the structure 
of a government gives force to public opinion, it is 
essential that public opinion should be enlightened." 
By his will he left to the endowment of a university 
in the District of Columbia the shares in the Poto- 
mac Company which had been given him by the 
State of Virginia, but the clause was never carried 
into effect. 

It was in 1745 that Washington's school-days 
73 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

came to an end. His share of his father's property 
being his mother's till he was twenty-one, a liveli- 
hood had to be found, and so at about fourteen 
years of age the work of life began. Like a true 
boy, the lad wanted to go to sea, despite his uncle's 
warning "that I think he had better be put ap- 
prentice to a tinker ; for a common sailor before the 
mast has by no means the liberty of the subject ; for 
they will press him from a ship where he has fifty 
shillings a month ; and make him take twenty-three, 
and cut and slash, and use him like a negro, or 
rather like a dog." His mother, however, would 
not consent, and to this was due his becoming a 
surveyor. 

From his "Young Man's Companion" Washing- 
ton had already learned the use of Gunter's rule 
and how it should be used in surveying, and to 
complete his knowledge he seems to have take^ 
lessons of the licensed surveyor of Westmoreland 
County, James Genn, for transcripts of some of the 
sui-veys drawn by Genn still exist in the hand- 
writing of his pupil. This implied a distinct and 
very valuable addition to his knowledge, and a 
large number of his surveys still extant are marvels 
of neatness and careful drawing. As a profession 
it was followed for only four years (i 747-1 751), 
but all through life he often used his knowledge 
in measuring or platting his own property. Far 
more important is the service it was to him in 
public life. In 1755 he sent to Braddock's secre- 
tary a map of the "back countr>^," and to the gov- 
ernor of Virginia plans of two forts. During the 

74 



EDUCATION 

Revolution it helped him not merely in the study 
of maps, but also in the facility it gave him to take 
in the topographical features of the country. Very 
largely, too, was the selection of the admirable site 
for the capital due to his supervising : all the plans 
for the city were submitted to him, and nowhere 
do the good sense and balance of the man appear 
to better advantage than in his correspondence with 
the Federal city commissioners. 

In Washing<-on's earliest account-book there is an 
item when he was sixteen years old, **To cash pd 
ye Musick Master for my Entrance 3/9." It is com- 
monly said that he played the flute, but this is as 
great a libel on him as any Tom Paine wrote, and 
though he often went to concerts, and though fond 
of hearing his granddaughter Nelly play and sing, 
he never was himself a performer, and the above 
entry probably refers to the singing-master whom 
the boys and girls of that day made the excuse for 
evening frolics. 

Mention is made elsewhere of his taking lessons in 
the sword exercise from Van Braam in these earlier 
years, and in 1756 he paid to Sergeant Wood, 
fencing-master, the sum of i^i.i.6. When he re- 
ceived the offer of a position on Braddock's staff, he 
acknowledged, in accepting, that " I must be ingenu- 
ous enough to confess, that I am not a little biassed 
by selfish considerations. To explain. Sir, I wish 
earnestly to attain some knowledge in the military 
profession, and, believing a more favorable oppor- 
tunity cannot offer, than to serve under a gentleman 
of General Braddock's abilities and experience, it 

75 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

does . . . not a little contribute to influence my 
choice." Hamilton is quoted as saying that Wash- 
ington " never read any book upon the art of war 
but Sim's Military Guide," and an anonymous author 
asserted that ''he never read a book in the art of war 
of higher value than Bland's Exercises." Certain it 
is that nearly all the military knowledge he possessed 
was derived from practice rather than from books, 
and though, late in life, he purchased a number of 
works on the subject, it was after his army service 
was over. 

One factor in Washington's education which must 
not go unnoticed was his religious beHef When 
only two months old he was baptized, presumably 
by the Rev. Lawrence De Butts, the clergyman of 
Washington parish. The removal from that locality 
prevented any further religious influence from this 
clergyman, and it probably first came from the Rev. 
Charles Green, of Truro parish, who had received his 
appointment through the friendship of Washington's 
father, and who later was on such friendly terms with 
Washington that he doctored Mrs. Washington in 
an attack of the measles, and caught and returned 
two of his parishioner's runaway slaves. As early 
as 1724 the clergyman of the parish in which Mount 
Vernon was situated reported that he catechisec?^ 
the youth of his congregation " in Lent and a great 
part of the Summer," and George, as the son of one 
of his vestrymen, undoubtedly received a due amount 
of questioning. 

From 1748 till 1759 there was little church-going 
for the young surveyor or soldier, but after his mar- 

76 



EDUCATION 

riage and settling at Mount Vernon he was elected 
vestryman in the two parishes of Truro and Fairfax, 
and from that election he was quite active in church 
affairs. It may be worth noting that in the elections 
of 1765 the new vestryman stood third in popularity 
in the Truro church and fifth in that of Fairfax. 
He drew the plans for a new church in Truro, and 
subscribed to its building, intending **to lay the 
foundation of a family pew," but by a vote of the 
vestry it was decided that there should be no private 
pews, and this breach of contract angered Wash- 
ington so greatly that he withdrew from the church 
in 1773. Sparks quotes Madison to the effect that 
" there was a tradition that, when he [Washington] 
belonged to the vestry of a church in his neighbor- 
hood, and several little difficulties grew out of some 
division of the society, he sometimes spoke with 
great force, animation, and eloquence on the topics 
that came before them." After this withdrawal he 
bought a pew in Christ Church in Alexandria (Fair- 
fax parish), paying £^6.io, which was the largest 
price paid by any parishioner. To this church he 
was quite liberal, subscribing several times towards 
repairs, etc. 

The Rev. Lee Massey, who was rector at Pohick 
(Truro) Church before the Revolution, is quoted by 
Bishop Meade as saying that 

♦' I never knew so constant an attendant in church as Washington. 
And his behavior in the house of God was ever so deeply reverential 
that it produced the happiest effect on my congregation, and greatly 
assisted me in my pulpit labors. No company ever withheld him 
from church. I have often been at Mount Vernon on Sabbath morn- 
ing, when his breakfast table was filled with guests ; but to him they 

77 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

furnished no pretext for neglecting his God and losing the satisfac- 
tion of setting a good example. For instead of staying at home, out 
of false complaisance to them, he used constantly to invite them to 
accompany him." 

This seems to have been written more with an eye 
to its influence on others than to its strict accuracy. 
During the time Washington attended at Pohick 
Church he was by no means a regular church-goer. 
His daily ''where and how my time is spent" enables 
us to know exactly how often he attended church, 
and in the year 1760 he went just sixteen times, and 
in 1 768 he went fourteen, these years being fairly 
typical of the period 1 760-1 773. During the Presi- 
dency a sense of duty made him attend St. Paul's and 
Christ churches while in New York and Philadelphia, 
but at Mount Vernon, when the public eye was 
not upon him, he was no more regular than he 
had always been, and in the last year of his life he 
wrote, " Six days do I labor, or, in other words, take 
exercise and devote my time to various occupations 
in Husbandry, and about my mansion. On the 
seventh, now called the first day, for want of a place 
of Worship (within less than nine miles) such letters 
as do not require immediate acknowledgment I give 
answers to. . . . But it hath so happened, that on 
the t\vo last Sundays — call them the first or the sev- 
enth as you please, I have been unable to perform 
the latter duty on account of visits from Strangers, 
with whom I could not use the freedom to leave 
alone, or recommend to the care of each other, for 
their amusement." 

What he said here was more or less typical of his 
78 



EDUCATION 

whole life. Sunday was always the day on which 
he wrote his private letters, — even prepared his in- 
voices, — and he wrote to one of his overseers that his 
letters should be mailed so as to reach him Satur- 
day, as by so doing they could be answered the fol- 
lowing day. Nor did he limit himself to this, for 
he entertained company, closed land purchases, 
sold wheat, and, while a Virginia planter, wenj; fox- 
hunting, on Sunday. It is to be noted, however, 
that he considered the scruples of others as to the 
day. When he went among his western tenants, 
rent-collecting, he entered in his diary that, it *' being 
Sunday and the People living on my Land apparently 
very religious, it was thought best to postpone going 
among them till tomorrow," and in his journey 
through New England, because it was " contrary to 
the law and disagreeable to the People of this State 
(Connecticut) to travel on the Sabbath day — and my 
horses, after passing through such intolerable roads, 
wanting rest, I stayed at Perkins' tavern (which, by 
the bye, is not a good one) all day — and a meeting- 
house being within a few rods of the door, I attended 
the morning and evening services, and heard very 
lame discourses from a Mr. Pond." It is of this ex- 
perience that tradition says the President started to 
travel, but was promptly arrested by a Connecticut 
tithihg-man. The story, however, lacks authenti- 
cation. 

There can be no doubt that religious intolerance 
was not a part of Washington's character. In 1775, 
when the New England troops intended to celebrate 
Guy Fawkes day, as usual, the General Orders de- 

79 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

clared that '' as the Commander in chief has been 
apprised of a design, formed for the observance of 
that ridiculous and childish custom of burning the 
effigy of the Pope, he cannot help expressing his 
surprise, that there should be officers and soldiers 
in this army so void of common sense, as not to see 
the impropriety of such a step." When trying to 
secure some servants, too, he wrote that *'if they 
are good workmen, they may be from Asia, Africa, 
or Europe ; they may be Mahometans, Jews, or 
Christians of any sect, or they may be Atheists." 
When the bill taxing all the people of Virginia to 
support the Episcopal Church (his own) was under 
discussion, he threw his weight against it, as far as 
concerned the taxing of other sectaries, but adding : 

" Although no man's sentiments are more opposed to any kind ot 
restraint upon rehgious principles than mine are, yet I must confess, 
that I am not amongst the number of those, who are so much 
alarmed at the thoughts of making people pay towards the support 
of that which they profess, if of the denomination of Christians, or 
to declare themselves Jews, Mahometans, or otherwise, and thereby 
obtain proper relief. As the matter now stands,! wish an assessment 
had never been agitated, and as it has gone so far, that the bill could 
die an easy death ; because I think it will be productive of more 
quiet to the State, than by enacting it into a law, which in my 
opinion would be impolitic, admitting there is a decided majority for 
it, to the disquiet of a respectable minority. In the former case, 
the matter will soon subside ; in the latter, it will rankle and per- 
haps convulse the State." 

Again in a letter he says, — 

•* Of all the animosities which have existed among mankind, those 
which aje caused by difference of sentiments in religion appear to 
be the most inveterate and distressing, and ought most to be depre- 
cated. I was in hopes, that the lightened and liberal policy, which 

80 



EDUCATION 

has marked the present age, would at least have reconciled Chris- 
tians of every denomination so far, that we should never again see 
their religious disputes carried to such a pitch as to endanger the 
peace of society. ' ' 

And to Lafayette, alluding to the proceedings of 
the Assembly of Notables, he wrote, — 

" I am not less ardent in my wish, that you may succeed in your 
plan of toleration in religious matters. Being no bigot myself, I am 
disposed to indulge the professors of Christianity in the church with 
that road to Heaven, which to them shall seem the most direct, 
plainest, easiest, and least liable to exception. ' ' 

What Washington believed has been a source of 
much dispute. Jefferson states "that Gouverneur 
Morris, who pretended to be in his secrets, and be- 
lieved himself to be so, has often told me that Gen- 
eral Washington believed no more of that system 
than he himself did," and Morris, it is scarcely 
necessary to state, was an atheist. The same 
authority quotes Rush, to. the effect that "when the 
clergy addressed General Washington on his de- 
parture from the government, it was observed in 
their consultation, that he had never, on any occa- 
sion, said a word to the public which showed a belief 
in Ithe Christian religion, and they thought they 
should so pen their address, as to force him at length 
to declare publicly whether he was a Christian or not. 
They did so. But, he observed, the old fox was too 
cunning for them. He answered eveiy article of 
their address particularly except that, which he passed 
over without notice." 

Whatever his belief, in all public ways Washing- 
ton threw his influence in favor of religion, and kept 

8i 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

what he really believed a secret, and in only one 
thing did he disclose his real thoughts. It is asserted 
that before the Revolution he partook of the sacra- 
ment, but this is only affirmed by hearsay, and better 
evidence contradicts it. After that war he did not, 
it is certain. Nelly Custis states that on ** com- 
munion Sundays he left the church with me, after 
the blessing, and returned home, and we sent the car- 
riage back for my grandmother." And the assist- 
ant minister of Christ Church in Philadelphia states 
that — 

''Observing that on Sacrament Sundays, Gen'l Washington, im. 
mediately after the Desk and Pulpit services, went out with the 
greater part of the congregation, always leaving Mrs. Washington 
with the communicants, she invariably being one, I considered it 
my duty, in a sermon on Public Worship, to state the unhappy ten- 
dency of example, particularly those in elevated stations, who in- 
variably turned their backs upon the celebration of the Lord's 
Supper. I acknowledge the remark was intended for the President, 
as such, he received it. A few days after, in conversation with, 1 
believe, a Senator of the U. S. he told me he had dined the day be- 
fore with the President, who in the course of the conversation at 
the table, said, that on the preceding Sunday, he had received a 
very just reproof from the pulpit, for always leaving the church be- 
fore the administration of the Sacrament ; that he honored the 
preacher for his integrity and candour ; that he had never considered 
the influence of his example ; that he would never again give cause 
for the repetition of the reproof; and that, as he had never been a 
communicant, were he to become one then, it would be imputed to 
an ostentatious display of religious zeal arising altogether from his 
elevated station. Accordingly he afterwards never came on the 
morning of Sacrament Sunday, tho' at other times, a constant at- 
tendant in the morning." 

Nelly Custis, too, tells us that Washington always 
"stood during the devotional part of the service," 
and Bishop White states that **his behavior was 



EDUCATION 

always serious and attentive ; but, as your letter 
seems to intend an inquiry on the point of kneeling 
during the service, I owe it to the truth to declare, 
that I never saw him in the said attitude." Prob- 
ably his true position is described by Madison, who 
is quoted as saying that he did ** not suppose that 
Washington had ever attended to the arguments for 
Christianity, and for the different systems of religion, 
or in fact that he had formed definite opinions on 
the subject. But he took these things as he found 
them existing, and was constant in his observances of 
worship according to the received forms of the 
Episcopal Church, in which he was brought up." 

If there was proof needed that it is mind and not 
education which pushes a man to the front, it is to 
be found in the case of Washington. Despite his 
want of education, he had, so Bell states, ** an ex- 
cellent understanding." Patrick Henry is quoted 
as saying of the members of the Congress of 1774 — 
the body of which Adams claimed that *' every 
man in it is a great man, an orator, a critic, a states- 
man" — that **if you speak of solid information and 
sound judgment Colonel Washington is unquestion- 
ably the- greatest man on the floor ;" while Jefferson 
asserted that ** his mind was great and powerful, 
without being of the very first order ; his penetra- 
tion strong, though not so acute as that of a Newton, 
Bacon, or Locke ; and as far as he saw, no judgment 
was ever sounder. It was slow in operation, being 
little aided by invention or imagination, but sure in 
conclusion." 



83 



IV 

RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

The book from which Washington derived almost 
the whole of his education warned its readers, — 

" Young Men have ever more a special care 
That Womanish Allurements prove not a snare ;" 

but, however carefully the lad studied the rest, this 
particular admonition took little root in his mind. 
There can be no doubt that Washington during the 
whole of his life had a soft heart for women, and 
especially for good-looking ones, and both in his 
personal intercourse and in his letters he shows him- 
self very much more at ease with them than in his 
relations with his own sex. Late in life, when the 
strong passions of his earlier years were under bettei 
control, he was able to write, — 

•' Love is said to be an involuntary passion, and it is, therefore, 
contended that it cannot be resisted. This is true in part only, foi 
like all things else, when nourished and supplied plentifully with 
ahment, it is rapid in its progress ; but let these be withdrawn and it 
may be stifled in its birth or much stinted in its growth. For ex- 
ample, a woman (the same may be said of the other sex) all beautiful 
and accomplished will, while her hand and heart are undisposed of, 
turn the heads and set the circle in which she moves on fire. Let 
her marry, and what is the consequence ? The madness ceases and 
all is quiet again. Why ? not because there is any diminution in 
the charms of the lady, but because there is an end of hope. Hence 
it follows, that love may and therefore ought to be under the guidance 
of reason, for although we cannot avoid first impressions, we may 
assuredly place them under guard." 

84 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

To write thus in one's sixty-sixth year and to 
practise one's theory in youth were, however, very 
different undertakings. Even while discussing love 
so philosophically, the writer had to acknowledge 
that "in the composition of the human frame, there 
is a good deal of inflammable matter," and few have 
had better cause to know it. When he saw in the 
premature engagement of his ward. Jack Custis, the 
one advantage that it would '' in a great measure 
avoid those little flirtations with other young ladies 
that may, by dividing the attention, contribute not a 
little to divide the affection," it is easy to think of 
him as looking back to his own boyhood, and re- 
membering, it is to be hoped with a smile, the suf- 
ferings he owed to pretty faces and neatly turned 
ankles. 

While still a school-boy, Washington was one day 
caught "romping with one of the largest girls," 
and very quickly more serious likings followed. As 
early as 1748, when only sixteen years of age, his 
heart was so engaged that while at Lord Fairfax's 
and enjoying the society of Mary Gary he poured 
out his feelings to his youthful correspondents 
"Dear Robin" and "Dear John" and "Dear Sally" 
as follows : 



" My place ot Residence is at present at His Lordships where I 
might was my heart disengag'd pass my time very pleasantly as theres 
a very agreeable Young Lady Lives in the same house (Colo George 
Fairfax's Wife's Sister) but as thats only adding Fuel to fire it makes 
me the more uneasy for by often and unavoidably being in Company 
with her revives my former Passion for your Low Land Beauty 
whereas was I to live more retired from young Women I might in 
some measure eliviate my sorrows by burying that chast and trouble- 

S5 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

• 

some Passion in the grave of oblivion or etarnall forgetfulness for as 
I am very well assured thats the only antidote or remedy that I shall 
be releivd by or only recess that can administer any cure or help to me 
as I am well convinced was I ever to attempt any thing I should 
only get a denial which would be only adding grief to uneasiness." 

*' Was my affections disengaged I might perhaps form some pleasure 
in the conversation of an agreeable Young Lady as theres one now 
Lives in the same house with me but as that is only nourishment to 
my former affecn for by often seeing her brings the other into my 
remembrance whereas perhaps was she not often & (unavoidably) 
presenting herself to my view I might in some measure aliviate my 
sorrows by burying the other in the grave of Oblivion I am well con- 
vinced my heart stands in defiance of all others but only she thats 
given it cause enough to dread a second assault and from a different 
Quarter tho I well know let it have as many attacks as it will from 
others they cant be more fierce than it has been." 

" I Pass the time of[f] much more agreeabler than what I imagined 
I should as there's a very agrewable Young Lady lives in the same 
house where I reside (Colo George Fairfax's Wife's Sister) that in a 
great Measure cheats my thoughts altogether from your Parts I could 
wish to be with you down there with all my heart but as it is a thing 
almost Impractakable shall rest myself where I am with hopes of 
shortly having some Minutes ol your transactions in your Parts which 
will be very welcomely receiv'd." 

Who this "Low Land Beauty" was has been the 
source of much speculation, but the question is still 
unsolved, every suggested damsel — Lucy Grymes, 
Mary Bland, Betsy Fauntleroy, et al. — being either 
impossible or the evidence wholly inadequate. But 
in the same journal which contains the draughts of 
these letters is a motto poem — 

"Twas Perfect Love before 
But Now I do adore" — 

followed by the words "Young M. A. his W[ife?],'' 
and as it was a fashion of the time to couple the 
initials of one's well-beloved with such sentiments, a 

86 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

slight clue is possibly furnished. Nor was this the 
only rhyme that his emotions led to his inscribing in 
his journal : and he confided to it the following : 

"Oh Ye Gods why should my Poor Resistless Heart 

Stand to oppose thy might and Power 
At Last surrender to cupids feather' d Dart 

And now lays Bleeding every Hour 
For her that's Pityless of my grief and Woes 

And will not on me Pity take 
He sleep amongst my most inveterate Foes 

And with gladness never wish to wake 
In deluding sleepings let my Eyelids close 

That in an enraptured Dream I may 
In a soft lulling sleep and gentle repose 

Possess those joys denied by Day." 

However woe-begone the young lover was, he 
does not seem to have been wholly lost to others of 
the sex, and at this same time he was able to indite 
an acrostic to another charmer, which, if incom- 
plete, nevertheless proves that there was a ** mid- 
land" beauty as well, the lady being presumptively 
some member of the family of Alexanders, who had 
a plantation near Mount Vernon. 

*' From your bright sparkling Eyes I was undone ; 
Rays, you have ; more transparent than the Sun, 
Amidst its glory in the rising Day 
None can you equal in your bright array ; 
Constant in your calm and unspotted Mind ; 
Equal to all, but will to none Prove kind, 
So knowing, seldom one so Young, you'l Find. 

Ah ! woe's me, that I should Love and conceal 
Long have I wish'd, but never dare reveal, 
Kven though severely Loves Pains I feel ; 
Xerxes that great, was't free from Cupids Dart, 
And all the greatest Heroes, felt the smart." 
«7 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

When visiting Barbadocs, in 1751, Washington 
noted in his journal his meeting a Miss Roberts, "an 
agreeable young lady," and later he went with her 
to see some fireworks on Guy Fawkes day. Appar- 
ently, however, the ladies of that island made little 
impression on him, for he further noted, ''The Ladys 
Generally are very agreeable but by ill custom or 
w[ha]t effect the Negro style." This sudden insensi- 
bility is explained by a letter he wrote to William 
Fauntleroy a few wrecks after his return to Virginia : 

♦*Sir : I should have been down long before this, but my business 
in Frederick detained me somewhat longer than I expected, and 
immediately upon my return from thence I was taken with a violent 
Pleurise, but purpose as soon as I recover my strength, to wait on 
Miss Betsy, in hopes of a revocation of the former cruel sentence, 
and see if I can meet with any alteration in my favor. I have en- 
closed a letter to her, which should be much obliged to you for 
the delivery of it. I have nothing to add but my best respects to 
your good lady and family, and that I am. Sir, Your most ob't 
humble serv't." 

Because of this letter it has been positively asserted 
that Betsy Fauntleroy was the Low-Land Beauty of 
the earlier time ; but as Washington wrote of his love 
for the latter in 1 748, when Betsy was only eleven^ 
the absurdity of the claim is obvious. 

In 1753, while on his mission to deliver the gov- 
ernor's letter to the French, one duty which fell to 
the young soldier was a visit to royalty, in the person 
of Queen Aliquippa, an Indian majesty who had 
"expressed great Concern" that she had formerly 
been slighted. Washington records that ** I made 
her a Present of a Match-coat and a Bottle of Rum ; 
which latter was thought much the best Present of 

8S 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

the Two," and thus (externally and internally) re- 
stored warmth to her majesty's feelings. 

When returned from his first campaign, and rest- 
ing at Mount Vernon, the time seems to have been 
beguiled by some charmer, for one of Washington's 
officers and intimates writes from Williamsburg, '' I 
imagine you By this time plung'd in the midst of 
delight heaven can afford & enchanted By Charmes 
even Stranger to the Ciprian Dame," and a foot- 
note by the same hand only excites further curiosity 
concerning this latter personage by indefinitely 
naming her as *' Mrs. Neil." 

With whatever heart-affairs the winter was passed, 
with the spring the young man's fancy turned not to 
love, but again to war, and only when the defeat of 
Braddock brought Washington back to Mount Ver- 
non to recover from the fatigues of that campaign 
was his intercourse with the gentler sex resumed. 
Now, however, he was not merely a good-looking 
young fellow, but was a hero who had had horses 
shot from under him and had stood firm when scar- 
let-coated men had run away. No longer did he 
have to sue for the favor of the fair ones, and Fair- 
fax wrote him that " if a Satterday Nights Rest can- 
not be sufficient to enable your coming hither 
tomorrow, the Lady's will try to get Horses to 
equip our Chair or attempt their strength on Foot to 
Salute you, so desirous are they with loving Speed 
to have an occular Demonstration of your being the 
same Identical Gent — that lately departed to de- 
fend his Country's Cause." Furthermore, to this 
letter was appended the following : 

89 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

"Dear Sir, — After thanking Heaven for your safe return I must 
accuse you of great unkindness in refusing us the pleasure of seeing 
you this night. I do assure you nothing but our being satisfied that 
our company would be disagreeable should prevent us from trying 
if our Legs would not carry us to Mount Vernon this night, but if 
you will not come to us tomorrow morning very early we shall be 
at Mount Vernon. 

"S[ally] Fairfax, 
"Ann Spearing. 
"Eliz'th Dent." 

Nor is this the only feminine postscript of this 
time, for in the postscript of a letter from Archibald 
Gary, a leading Virginian, he is told that " Mrs. 
Gary & Miss Randolph joyn in wishing you that sort 
of Glory which will most Indear you to the Fair 
Sex." 

In 1756 Washington had occasion to journey on 
military business to Boston, and both in coming and 
in going he tarried in New York, passing ten days in 
his first visit and about a week on his return. This 
time was spent with a Virginian friend, Beverly Rob- 
inson, who had had the good luck to marry Susannah 
Philipse, a daughter of Frederick Philipse, one of 
the largest landed proprietors of the colony of New 
York. Here he met the sister, Mary Philipse, then 
a girl of twenty-five, and, short as was the time, it 
was sufficient to engrave his heart To this interest 
no doubt are due the entries in his accounts of sun- 
dry pounds spent " for treating Ladies," and for the 
large tailors' bills then incurred. But neither treats 
nor clothes won the lady, who declined his propo- 
sals, and gave her heart two years later to Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Roger Morris- A curious sequel to 
this disappointment was the accident that made the 

90 







^^w 



MARY FHILIPSE 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

Roger Morris house Washington's head-quarters in 
1776, both Morris and his wife being fugitive Tories, 
Again Washington was a chance visitor in 1 790, 
when, as part of a picnic, he ** dined on a dinner 
provided by Mr. Marriner at the House lately Colo. 
Roger Morris, but confiscated and in the occupation 
of a common Farmer." 

It has been asserted that Washington loved the 
wife of his friend George William Fairfax, but the 
evidence has not been produced. On the contrary, 
though the two corresponded, it was in a purely pla- 
tonic fashion, very different from the strain of lovers, 
and that the correspondence implied nothing is 
to be found in the fact that he and Sally Carlyle 
(another Fairfax daughter) also wrote each other 
quite as frequently and on the same friendly foot- 
ing ; indeed, Washington evidently classed them in 
the same category, when he stated that ** I have 
wrote to my two female correspondents." Thus the 
claim seems due, like many another of Washington's 
mythical love-affairs, rather to the desire of descend- 
ants to link their family ** to a star" than to more 
substantial basis. Washington did, indeed, write to 
Sally Fairfax from the frontier, " I should think our 
time more agreeably spent, believe me, in playing a 
part in Cato, with the company you mention, and 
myself doubly happy in being the Juba to such a 
Marcia, as you must make," but private theatricals 
then no more than now implied "passionate love." 
What is more, Mrs. Fairfax was at this very time 
teasing him about another woman, and to her hints 
Washington replied, — 

91 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

*'If you allow that any honor can be derived from my opposition 
. . . you destroy the merit of it entirely in me by attributing my 
anxiety to the animating prospect of possessing Mrs. Custis, when — 
I need not tell you, guess yourself. Should not my own Honor 
and country's welfare be the excitement? 'Tis true I profess my- 
self a votary of love. I acknowledge that a lady is in the case, and 
further I confess that this lady is known to you. Yes, Madame, as 
well as she is to one who is too sensible of her charms to deny the 
Power whose influence he feels and must ever submit to. I feel the 
force of her amiable beauties in the recollection of a thousand ten- 
der passages that I could wish to obliterate, till I am bid to revive 
them. But experience, alas ! sadly reminds me how impossible this 
is, and evinces an opinion which I have long entertained that there 
is a Destiny which has the control of our actions, not to be resisted 
by the strongest efforts of Human Nature. You have drawn me, 
dear Madame, or rather I have drawn myself, into an honest confes- 
sion of a simple Fact. Misconstrue not my meaning ; doubt it not, 
nor expose it. The world has no business to know the object of my 
Love, declared in this manner to you, when I want to conceal it. 
One thing above all things in this world I wish to know, and only 
one person of your acquaintance can solve me that, or guess my 
meaning." 

The love-affair thus alluded to had begun in March, 
1758, when ill health had taken Washington to 
Williamsburg to consult physicians, thinking, indeed, 
of himself as a doomed man. In this trip he met 
Mrs. Martha (Dandridge) Custis, widow of Daniel 
Parke Custis, one of the wealthiest planters of the 
colony. She was at this time twenty-six years of 
age, or Washington's senior by nine months, and 
had been a widow but seven, yet in spite of this 
fact, and of his own expected " decay," he pressed 
his love-making with an impetuosity akin to that 
with which he had urged his suit of Miss Philipse, 
and (widows being proverbial) with better success. 
The invalid had left Mount Vernon on March 5, 
and by April i he was back at Fort Loudon, an 

92 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

engaged man, having as well so far recovered his 
health as to be able to join his command. Early in 
May he ordered a ring from Philadelphia, at a cost 
of £2.16.0; soon after receiving it he found that 
army affairs once more called him down to Wil- 
liamsburg, and, as love-making is generally consid- 
ered a military duty, the excuse was sufficient. But 
sterner duties on the frontier were awaiting him, 
and very quickly he was back there and writing to 
his Jiancee, — 

**We have begun our march for the Ohio. A courier is starting 
for WilHamsburg, and I embrace the opportunity to send a few 
words to one whose hfe is now inseparable from mine. Since that 
happy hour when we made our pledges to each other, my thoughts 
have been continually going to you as another Self. That an all- 
powerful Providence may keep us both in safety is the prayer of 
your ever faithful and affectionate friend." 

Five months after this letter was written, Wash- 
ington was able to date another from Fort Duquesne, 
and, the fall of that post putting an end to his mili- 
tary service, only four weeks later he was back in Wil- 
liamsburg, and on January 6, 1759, he was married. 

Very Httle is really known of his wife, beyond the 
facts that she was petite, over-fond, hr' tempered, 
obstinate, and a poor speller. In 1778 she was 
described as "a sociable, pretty kind of woman," 
and she seems to have been but little more. One 
who knew her well described her as " not pos- 
sessing much sense, though a perfect lady and 
remarkably well calculated for her position," and 
confirmatory of this is the opinion of an English 
traveller that "there was nothing remarkable in the 
person of the lady of the President ; she was ma- 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

tronly and kind, with perfect good breeding." None 
the less she satisfied Washington ; even after the 
proverbial six months were over he refused to 
wander from Mount Vernon, writing that " I am 
now, I believe, fixed at this seat with an agreeable 
Consort for hfe," and in 1783 he spoke of her as the 
" partner of all my Domestic enjoyments." 

John Adams, in one of his recurrent moods of 
bitterness and jealousy towards Washington, de- 
manded, *' Would Washington have ever been com- 
mander of the revolutionary army or president of 
the United States if he had not married the rich 
widow of Mr. Custis?" To ask such a question is 
to overlook the fact that Washington's colonial mili- 
tary fame was entirely achieved before his marriage. 
It is not to be denied that the match was a good 
one from a worldly point of view, Mrs. Washing- 
ton's third of the Custis property equalling ** fifteen 
thousand acres of land, a good part of it adjoining 
the city of Williamsburg ; several lots in the said 
city ; between two and three hundred negroes ; and 
about eight or ten thousand pounds upon bond," 
estimated at the time as about twenty thousand 
pounds in all, which was further increased on the 
death of Patsy Custis in 1773 by a half of her for- 
tune, which added ten thousand pounds to the sum. 
Nevertheless the advantage was fairly equal, for Mrs. 
Custis's lawyer had written before her marriage of 
the impossibility of her managing the property, ad- 
vising that she "employ a trusty steward, and as the 
estate is large and very extensive, it is Mr. Wallers 
and my own opinion, that you had better not engage 

94 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

any but a very able man, though he should require 
large wages." Of the management of this prop- 
erty, to which, indeed, she was unequal, Washington 
entirely relieved her, taking charge also of her chil- 
dren's share and acting for their interests with the 
same care with which he managed the part he was 
more directly concerned in. 

He further saved her much of the detail of order- 
ing her own clothing, and we find him sending for 
"A Salmon-colored Tabby of the enclosed pattern, 
with satin flowers, to be made in a sack," '* i Cap, 
Handkerchief, Tucker and Ruffles, to be made of 
Brussels lace or point, proper to wear with the above 
negligee, to cost ^20," " i pair black, and i pair 
white Satin Shoes, of the smallest," and " i black 
mask." Again he writes his London agent, ** Mrs. 
Washington sends home a green sack to get cleaned, 
or fresh dyed of the same color ; made up into a 
handsome sack again, would be her choice ; but if 
the cloth won't afford that, then to be thrown into a 
genteel Night Gown." At another time he wants a 
pair of clogs, and when the wrong kind are sent he 
writes that **she intended to have leathern Gloshoes." 
When she was asked to present a pair of colors to a 
company, he attended to every detail of obtaining 
the flag, and when " Mrs. Washington . . . per- 
ceived the Tomb of her Father ... to be much out 
of Sorts" he wrote to get a workman to repair it. 
The care of the Mount Vernon household proving 
beyond his wife's ability, a housekeeper was very 
quickly engaged, and when one who filled this 
position was on the point of leaving, Washington 

95 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

wrote his agent to find another without the least de- 
lay, for the vacancy would '' throw a great additional 
weight on Mrs. Washington ;" again, writing in 
another domestic difficulty, "Your aunt's distresses 
for want of a good housekeeper are such as to ren- 
der the wages demanded by Mrs. Forbes (though 
unusually high) of no consideration." Her letters 
of form, which required better orthography than she 
was mistress of, he draughted for her, pen-weary 
though he was. 

It has already been shown how he fathered her 
"little progeny," as he once called them. Mrs. 
Washington was a worrying mother, cis is shown by 
a letter to her sister, speaking of a visit in which " I 
carried my little patt with me and left Jacky at home 
for a trial to see how well I could stay without him 
though we were gon but wone fortnight I was quite 
impatient to get home. If I at aney time heard the 
doggs barke or a noise out, I thought thair was a 
person sent for me. I often fancied he was sick or 
some accident had happened to him so that I think 
it is impospossible for me to leave him as long as Mr. 
Washington must stay when he comes down." To 
spare her anxiety, therefore, when the time came for 
"Jacky" to be inoculated, Washington "withheld 
from her the information ... & purpose, if pos- 
sible, to keep her in total ignorance . . . till I hear 
of his return, or perfect recovery ; . . . she having 
often wished that Jack wou'd take & go through the 
disorder without her knowing of it, that she might es- 
cape those Tortures which suspense wd throw her 
into." And on the death of Patsy he wrote, "This 

96 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

sudden and unexpected blow, I scarce need add has 
almost reduced my poor Wife to the lowest ebb of 
Misery ; which is encreas'd by the absence of her son." 
When Washington left Mount Vernon, in May, 
1775, to attend the Continental Congress, he did 
not foresee his appointment as commander-in-chief, 
and as soon as it occurred he wrote his wife, — 

** I am now set down to write to you on a subject, which fills me 
with inexpressible concern, and this concern is greatly aggravated and 
increased, when I reflect upon the uneasiness I know it will give 
you. It has been determined in Congress, that the whole army 
raised for the defence of the American cause shall be put under my 
care, and that it is necessary for me to proceed immediately to Bos- 
ton to take upon me the command oi it. 

"You may believe me, my dear Patsey, when I assure you, in 
the most solemn manner, that, so far from seeking this appointment, 
I have used every endeavor in my power to avoid it, not only from 
my unwillingness to part with you and the family, but from a con- 
sciousness of its being a trust too great for my capacity, and that I 
should enjoy more real happiness in one month with you at home, 
than I have the most distant prospect of finding abroad, if my stay 
were to be seven times seven years. ... I shall feel no pain from 
the toil or danger of the campaign ; my unhappiness will flow from 
the uneasiness I know you will feel from being left alone." 

To prevent this loneliness as far as possible, he 
wrote at the same time to different members of the 
two families as follows : 

•*My great concern upon this occasion is, the thought of leaving 
your mother under the uneasiness which I fear this affair will throw 
her into ; I therefore hope, expect, and indeed have no doubt, of 
your using every means in your power to keep up her spirits, by 
doing eveiything in your power to promote her quiet. I have, I 
must confess, very uneasy feelings on her account, but as it has been 
a kind of unavoidable necessity which has led me into this appoint- 
ment, I shall more readily hope that success will attend it and 
crown our meetings with happiness." 
7 97 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

"I entreat you and Mrs. Bassett if possible to visit at Mt. Vernon, 
as also my wife's other friends. I could wish you to take her down, 
as I have no expectation of returning till winter & feel great uneasi- 
ness at her lonesome situation." 

** I shall hope that my friends will visit and endeavor to keep up 
the spirits of ray wife, as much as they can, as my departure will, I 
know, be a cutting stroke upon her ; and on this account alone I 
have many very disagreeable sensations. I hope you and my sister, 
(although the distance is great), will find as much leisure this sum- 
mer as to spend a little time at Mount Vernon." 

When, six months later, the war at Boston settled 
into a mere siege, Washington wrote that ** seeing 
no prospect of returning to my family and friends 
this winter, I have sent an invitation to Mrs. Wash- 
ington to come to me," adding, " I have laid a state 
of difficulties, however, which must attend the jour- 
ney before her, and left it to her own choice." His 
wife replied in the affirmative, and one of Washing- 
ton's aides presently wrote concerning some prize 
goods to the effect that ** There are limes, lemons 
and oranges on board, which, being perishable, you 
must sell immediately. The General will want some 
of each, as well of the sweetmeats and pickles that 
are on board, as his lady will be here today or to- 
morrow. You will please to pick up such things on 
board as you think will be acceptable to her, and 
send them as soon as possible ; he does not mean to 
receive anything without payment." 

Lodged at head-quarters, then the Craigie house 
in Cambridge, the discomforts of war were reduced 
to a minimum, but none the less it was a trying time 
to Mrs. Washington, who complained that she could 
not get used to the distant cannonading, and she 

98 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

marvelled that those about her paid so little heed to 
it. With the opening of the campaign in the follow- 
ing summer she returned to Mount Vernon, but 
when the army was safely in winter quarters at Val- 
ley Forge she once more journeyed northward, a trip 
alluded to by Washington in a letter to Jack, as 
follows : ** Your Mamma is not yet arrived, but . . . 
expected every hour. [My aide] Meade set off yes- 
terday (as soon as I got. notice of her intention) to 
meet her. We are in a dreary kind of place, and 
uncomfortably provided." And of this reunion Mrs. 
Washington wrote, *' I came to this place, some time 
about the first of February where I found the Gen- 
eral very well, ... in camp in what is called the 
great valley on the Banks of the Schuylkill. Officers 
and men are chiefly in Hutts, which they say is toler- 
ably comfortable ; the army are as healthy as can be 
well expected in general. The General's apartment 
is very small ; he has had a log cabin built to dine 
in, which has made our quarters much more toler- 
able than they were at first." 

Such ** winterings" became the regular custom, 
and brief references in various letters serve to illus- 
trate them. Thus, in 1779, Washington informed a 
friend that '* Mrs. Washington, according to custom 
marched home when the campaign was about to 
open ;" in July, 1782, he noted that his wife "sets 
out this day for Mount Vernon," and later in the 
same year he wrote, " as I despair of seeing my 
home this Winter, I have sent for Mrs. Washing- 
ton ;" and finally, in a letter he draughted for his 
wife, he made her describe herself as "a kind of 

99 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

perambulator, during eight or nine years of the 
war. " 

Another pleasant glimpse during these stormy 
years is the couple, during a brief stay in Philadel- 
phia, being entertained almost to death, described 
as follows by Franklin's daughter in a letter to her 
father : ** I have lately been several times abroad 
with the General and Mrs. Washington. He always 
inquires after you in the most affectionate manner, 
and speaks of you highly. We danced at Mrs. 
Powell's your birthday, or night I should say, in 
company together, and he told me it was the an- 
niversary of his marriage ; it was just twenty years 
that night." Again there was junketing in Philadel- 
phia after the surrender at Yorktown, and one bit 
of this is shadowed in a line from Washington to 
Robert Morris, telling the latter that '' Mrs. Wash- 
ington, myself and family, will have the honor of 
dining with you in the way proposed, tomorrow, 
being Christmas day." 

With the retirement to Mount Vernon at the 
close of the war, little more companionship was ob- 
tained, for, as already stated, Washington could only 
describe his home henceforth as a ** well resorted 
tavern," and two years after his return he entered 
m his diary, *' Dined with only Mrs. Washington 
which I believe is the first instance of it since my 
retirement from pubHc Hfe." 

Even this was only a furlough, for in six years 
they were both in public life again. Mrs. Washing- 
ton was inclined to sulk over the necessary restraints 
of official life, writing to a friend, ** Mrs. Sins will 

lOO 




MRS. DANIEL PARKE CUSTIS, LATER MRS. WASHINGTON 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

give you a better account of the fashions than I can — 
I live a very dull life hear and know nothing that 
passes in the town — I never goe to any public place 
— indeed I think I am more like a State prisoner 
than anything else ; there is certain bounds set for 
me which I must not depart from — and as I cannot 
doe as I like, I am obstinate and stay at home a 
great deal." 

None the less she did her duties well, and in these 
*' Lady Washington" was more at home, for, accord- 
ing to Thacher, she combined "in an uncommon 
degree, great dignity of manner with most pleasing 
affability," though possessing '*no striking marks of 
beauty," and there is no doubt that she lightened 
Washington's shoulders of social demands materi- 
ally. At the receptions of Mrs. Washington, which 
were held every Friday evening, so a contemporary 
states, **the President did not consider himself as 
visited. On these occasions he appeared as a pri- 
vate gentleman, with neither hat nor sword, con- 
versing without restraint." 

From other formal society Mrs. Washington also 
saved her husband, for a visitor on New Year's 
tells of her setting '' ' the General' (by which title 
she always designated her husband)" at liberty : 
" Mrs. Washington had stood by his side as the vis- 
itors arrived and were presented, and when the 
clock in the hall was heard striking nine, she ad- 
vanced and with a complacent smile said, 'The 
General always retires at nine, and I usually precede 
him^,' upon which all arose, made their parting salu- 
tations, and withdrew." Nor was it only from the 

lOl 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

fatigues of formal entertaining that the wife saved 
her husband, Washington writing in 1793, "We 
remain in Philadelphia until the lOth instant. It 
was my wish to have continued there longer ; but as 
Mrs. Washington was unwilling to leave me sur- 
rounded by the malignant fever which prevailed, I 
could not think of hazarding her, and the Children 
any longer by 7ny continuance in the City, the house 
in which we live being in a manner blockaded by 
the disorder, and was becoming every day more and 
more fatal ; I therefore came off with them." 

Finally from these "scenes more busy, tho' not 
more happy, than the tranquil enjoyment of rural 
life," they returned to Mount Vernon, hoping that 
in the latter their "days will close." Not quite 
three years of this life brought an end to their forty 
years of married life. On the night that Washing- 
ton's illness first became serious his secretary nar- 
rates that " Between 2 and 3 o'clk on Saturday 
morning he [Washington] awoke Mrs. Washington 
& told her he was very unwell, and had had an 
ague. She . . . would have got up to call a ser- 
vant ; but he would not permit her lest she should 
take cold." As a consequence of this care for her, 
her husband lay for nearly four hours in a chill in 
a cold bedroom before receiving any attention, or 
before even a fire was lighted. When death came, 
she said, "'Tis well — All is now over — I have no 
more trials to pass through — I shall soon follow 
him." In his will he left " to my dearly beloved 
wife" the use of his whole property, and named her 
an executrix. 

102 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

As a man's views of matrimony are more or less 
colored by his personal experience, what Washing- 
ton had to say on the institution is of interest As 
concerned himself he wrote to his nephew, '*If Mrs. 
Washington should survive me, there is a moral cer- 
tainty of my dying without issue : and should I be 
the longest liver, the matter in my opinion, is hardly 
less certain ; for while I retain the faculty of reason- 
ing, I shall never marry a girl ; and it is not prob- 
able that I should have children by a woman of an 
age suitable to my own, should I be disposed to 
enter into a second marriage." And in a less per- 
sonal sense he wrote to Chastellux, — 

" In reading your very friendly and acceptable letter, . . . I was, 
as you may well suppose, not less delighted than surprised to meet 
the plain American words, * my wife. ' A wife ! Well, my dear 
Marquis, I can hardly refrain from smiling to find you are caught at 
last. I saw, by the eulogium you often made on the happiness of 
domestic life in America, that you had swallowed the bait, and that 
you would as surely be taken, one day or another, as that you were 
a philosopher and a soldier. So your day has at length come. I 
am glad of it, with all my heart and soul. It is quite good enough 
for you. Now you are well served for coming to fight in favor of 
the American rebels, all the way across the Atlantic Ocean, by 
catching that terrible contagion — domestic felicity — which same, like 
the small pox or the plague, a man can have only once in his life ; 
because it commonly lasts him (at least with us in America — I don't 
know how you manage these matters in France) for his whole life 
time. And yet after all the maledictions you so richly merit on the 
subject, the worst wish which I can find in my heart to make against 
Madame de Chastellux and yourself is, that you may neither of you 
ever get the better of this same domestic felicity during the entire 
course of your mortal existence." 

Furthermore, he wrote to an old friend, whose 
wife stubbornly refused to sign a deed, '' I think, 

103 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

any Gentleman, possessed of but a very moderate 
degree of influence with his wife, might, in the 
course of five or six years (for I think it is at least 
that time) have prevailed upon her to do an act of 
justice, in fulfiling his Bargains and complying with 
his wishes, if he had been really in earnest in re- 
questing the matter of her ; especially, as the in- 
ducement which you thought would have a power- 
ful operation on Mrs. Alexander, namely the birth 
of a child, has been doubled, and tripled." 

However well Washington thought of *' the hon- 
orable state," he was no match-maker, and when 
asked to give advice to the widow of Jack Custis, 
replied, ** I never did, nor do I believe I ever shall, 
give advice to a woman, who is setting out on a 
matrimonial voyage ; first, because I never could 
advise one to marry without her own consent ; and, 
secondly because I know it is to no purpose to ad- 
vise her to refrain, when she has obtained it. A 
woman very rarely asks an opinion or requires 
advice on such an occasion, till her resolution is 
formed ; and then it is with the hope and expectation 
of obtaining a sanction, not that she means to be 
governed by your disapprobation, that she applies. 
In a word the plain English of the application may 
be summed up in these words : ' I wish you to 
think as I do ; but, if unhappily you differ from me 
in opinion, my heart, I must confess, is fixed, and 
I have gone too far now to retract' " Again he 
wrote : 

" It has ever been a maxim with me through hfe, neither to pro- 
mote nor to prevent a matrimonial connection, unless there should 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

be something indispensably requiring interference in the latter. I 
have always considered marriage as the most interesting event of 
one's life, the foundation of happiness or misery. To be instru- 
mental therefore in bringing two people together, who are indif- 
ferent to each other, and may soon become objects of disgust ; or 
to prevent a union, which is prompted by the affections of the mind, 
is what I never could reconcile with reason, and therefore neither 
directly nor indirectly have I ever said a word to Fanny or George, 
upon the subject of their intended connection." 



The question, whether Washington was a faithful 
husband might well be left to the facts already given, 
were it not that stories of his immorality are bandied 
about in clubs, a well-known clergyman has vouched 
for their truth, and a United States senator has 
given further currency to them by claiming special 
knowledge on the subject. Since such are the facts, 
it seems best to consider the question and show 
what evidence there actually is for these stories, that 
at least the pretended ** letters," etc., which are 
always being cited, and are never produced, may no 
longer have credence put in them, and the true basis 
for all the stories may be known and valued at its 
worth. 

In the year 1776 there was printed in London a 
small pamphlet entitled " Minutes of the Trial and 
Examination of Certain Persons in the Province of 
New York," which purported to be the records of 
the examination of the conspirators of the " Rickey 
plot" (to murder Washington) before a committee 
of the Provincial Congress of New York. The 
manuscript of this was claimed in the preface to 
have been ** discovered (on the late capture of New 
York by the British troops) among the papers of a 

105 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

person who appears to have been secretary to the 
committee." As part of the evidence the following 
was printed : 

"William Cooper, soldier, sworn. 

"Court. Inform us what conversation you heard at the Serjeant's 
Arms? 

"Cooper. Being there the 21st of May, I heard John Clayford 
inform the company, that Mary Gibbons was thoroughly in their in- 
terest, and that the whole would be safe. I learnt from enquiry that 
Mary Gibbons was a girl from New Jersey, of whom General Wash- 
ington was very fond, that he maintained her genteelly at a house 
near Mr. Skinner's, — at the North River; that he came there very 
often late at night in disguise ; he learnt also that this woman was 
very intimate with Clayford, and made him presents, and told him 
of what General Washington said. 

"Court. Did you hear Mr. Clayford say any thing himself that 
night ? 

"Cooper. Yes; that he was the day before with Judith, so he 
called her, and that she told him, Washington had often said he 
wished his hands were clear of the dirty New-Englanders, and words 
to that effect. 

" Court. Did you hear no mention made of any scheme to betray 
or seize him? 

"Cooper. Mr. Clayford said he could easily be seized and put on 
board a boat, and carried ofif, as his female friend had promised she 
would assist : but all present thought it would be hazardous." 

" William Savage, sworn. 

"Court. Was you at the Serjeant's Arms on the 21st of May? 
Did you hear any thing of this nature ? 

"Savage. I did, and nearly as the last evidence has declared; 
the society in general refused to be concerned in it, and thought it a 
mad scheme. 

"Mr. Abeel. Pray, Mr. Savage, have not you heard nothing of 
an information that was to be given to Governor Tryon ? 

' ' Savage. Yes ; papers and letters were at different times shewn 
10 the society, which were taken out of General Washington's pock- 
ets by Mrs. Gibbons, and given (as she pretended some occasion of 
going out) to Mr. Clayford, who always copied them, and they were 
put into his pockets again." 

1 06 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

The authenticity of this pamphlet thus becomes 
of importance, and over this Httle time need be spent. 
The committee named in it differs from the com- 
mittee really named by the Provincial Congress, and 
the proceedings nowhere implicate the men actually 
proved guilty. In other words, the whole publica- 
tion is a clumsy Tory forgery, put forward with the 
same idle story of *' captured papers" employed in 
the "spurious letters" of Washington, and sent forth 
from the same press (J. Bew) from which that for- 
gery and several others issued. 

The source from which the English fabricator 
drew this scandal is fortunately known. In 1775 a 
letter to Washington from his friend Benjamin Har- 
rison was intercepted by the British, and at once 
printed broadcast in the newspapers. In this the 
writer gossips to Washington **to amuse you and 
unbend your minds from the cares of war," as fol- 
lows : ** As I was in the pleasing task of writing to 
you, a little noise occasioned me to turn my head 
around, and who should appear but pretty little 
Kate, the Washer-woman's daughter over the way, 
clean, trim and as rosy as the morning. I snatched 
the golden, glorious opportunity, and, but for the 
cursed antidote to love, Sukey, I had fitted her for 
my general against his return. We were obliged to 
part, but not till we had contrived to meet again : if 
she keeps the appointment, I shall relish a week's 
longer stay." From this originated the stories of 
Washington's infidelity as already given, and also a 
coarser version of the same, printed in 1776 in a 
Tory farce entitled **The Battle of Brooklyn." 

107 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Jonathan Boucher, who knew Washington well 
before the Revolution, yet who, as a loyalist, wrote 
in no friendly spirit of him, asserted that "in his 
moral character, he is regular." A man who dis- 
liked him far more. General Charles Lee, in the 
excess of his hatred, charged Washington in 1778 
with immorality, — a rather amusing impeachment, 
since at the very time Lee was flaunting the evidence 
of his own incontinence without apparent shame, — 
and a mutual friend of the accused and accuser, 
Joseph Reed, whose service on Washington's staff 
enabled him to speak wittingly, advised that Lee 
''forbear any Reflections upon the Commander in 
Chief, of whom for the first time I have heard 
Slander on his private Character, viz., great cruelty 
to his Slaves in Virginia & Immorality of Life, tho' 
they acknowledge so very secret that it is difficult 
to detect. To me who have had so good oppor- 
tunities to know the Purity of the latter & equally 
believing the Falsehood of the former from the 
known excellence of his disposition, it appears so 
nearly bordering upon frenzy, that I can pity the 
wretches rather than despise them." 

Washington was too much of a man, however, to 
have his marriage lessen his liking for other women ; 
and Yeates repeats that " Mr. Washington once told 
me, on a charge which I once made against the 
President at his own Table, that the admiration he 
warmly professed for Mrs. Hartley, was a Proof of 
his Homage to the worthy Part of the Sex, and 
highly respectful to his Wife." Every now and then 
there is an allusion in his letters which shows his 

108 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

appreciation of beauty, as when he wrote to General 
Schuyler, '' Your fair daughter, for whose visit Mrs. 
Washington and myself are greatly obliged," and 
again, to one of his aides, **The fair hand, to whom 
your letter . . . was committed presented it safe." 

His diary, in the notes of the balls and assemblies 
which he attended, usually had a word for the sex, 
as exampled in : "at which there were between 60 
& 70 w^ell dressed ladies ;" ** at which there was 
about 100 well dressed and handsome ladies ;" **at 
which were 256 elegantly dressed ladies;" ''where 
there was a select Company of ladies;" "where 
(it is said) there were upwards of 100 ladies ; their 
appearance was elegant, and many of them very 
handsome ;" "at wch. there were about 400 ladies the 
number and appearance of wch. exceeded anything 
of the kind I have ever seen ;" "where there were 
about 75 well dressed, and many of them very 
handsome ladies — among whom (as was also the 
case at the Salem and Boston assemblies) were a 
greater proportion with much blacker hair than are 
usually seen in the Southern States." 

At his wife's receptions, as already said, Washing- 
ton did not view himself as host, and "conversed 
without restraint, generally with women, who rarely 
had other opportunity of seeing him," which per- 
haps accounts for the statement of another eye-wit- 
ness that Washington " looked very much more at 
ease than at his own official levees." Sullivan adds 
that " the young ladies used to throng around him, 
and engaged him in conversation. There were some 
of the well-remembered belles of the day who im- 

109 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

agined themselves to be favorites with him. As 
these were the only opportunities which they had 
of conversing with him, they were disposed to use 
them." In his Southern trip of 1 791 Washington 
noted, with evident pleasure, that he "was visited 
about 2 o'clock, by a great number of the most 
respectable ladies of Charleston — the first honor of 
the kind I had ever experienced and it was flattering 
as it was singular." And that this attention was not 
merely the respect due to a great man is shown in 
the letter of a Virginian woman, who wrote to her 
correspondent in 1777, that when ** General Wash- 
ington throws off the Hero and takes up the chatty 
agreeable Companion — he can be down right impu- 
dent sometimes — such impudence, Fanny, as you 
and I like." 

Another feminine compliment paid him was a 
highly laudatory poem which was enclosed to him, 
with a letter begging forgiveness, to which he play- 
fully answered, — 

"You apply to me, my dear Madam, for absolution as tho' I was 
your father Confessor ; and as tho' you had committed a crime, great 
in itself, yet of the venial class. You have reason good — for I find 
myself strangely disposed to be a very indulgent ghostly adviser on 
this occasion ; and, notwithstanding ' you are the most offending Soul 
alive' (that is, if it is a crime to write elegant Poetry,) yet if you will 
come and dine with me on Thursday, and go thro' the proper course 
of penitence which shall be prescribed I will strive hard to assist you 
in expiating these poetical trespasses on this side of purgatory. Nay 
more, if' it rests with me to direct your future lucubrations, I shall 
certainly urge you to a repetition of the same conduct, on purpose 
to shew what an admirable knack you have at confession and refor- 
mation ; and so without more hesitation, I shall venture to command 
the muse, not to be restrained by ill-grounded timidity, but to go on 

1 10 



RELATIONS WITH THE FAIR SEX 

and prosper. You see, Madam, when once the woman has tempted 
us, and we have tasted the forbidden fruit, there is no such thing as 
checking our appetites, whatever the consequences may be. You 
will, I dare say, recognize our being the genuine Descendants of 
those who are reputed to be our great Progenitors." 

Nor was Washington open only to beauty and 
flattery. From the rude frontier in 1756 he wrote, 
**The suppHcating tears of the women, . . . melt 
me into such deadly sorrow, that I solemnly declare, 
if I know my own mind, I could offer myself a willing 
sacrifice to the butchering enemy, provided that 
would contribute to the people's ease." And in 
1776 he said, "When I consider that the city of 
New York will in all human probability very soon 
be the scene of a bloody conflict, I cannot but view 
the great numbers of women, children, and infirm 
persons remaining in it, with the most melancholy 
concern. When the men-of-war passed up the 
river, the shrieks and cries of these poor creatures 
running every way with their children, were truly 
distressing. . . . Can no method be devised for their 
removal?" 

Nevertheless, though liked by and liking the fair 
sex, Washington was human, and after experience 
concluded that '* I never again will have two women 
in my house when I am there myself." 



Ill 



V 

FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

The earliest known Washington coat of arms had 
blazoned upon it '*3 Cinque foiles," which was the 
herald's way of saying that the bearer was a land- 
holder and cultivator, and when Washington had a 
book-plate made for himself he added to the con- 
ventional design of the arms spears of wheat and 
other plants, as an indication of his favorite labor. 
During his career he acted several parts, but in none 
did he find such pleasure as in farming, and late in 
life he said, " I think with you, that the life of a 
husbandman of all others is the most delectable. It 
is honorable, it is amusing, and, with judicious man- 
agement, it is profitable. To see plants rise from 
the earth and flourish by the superior skill and 
bounty of the laborer fills a contemplative mind 
with ideas which are more easy to be conceived 
than expressed." "Agriculture has ever been the 
most favorite amusement of my life," he wrote after 
the Revolution, and he informed another corre- 
spondent that " the more I am acquainted with agri- 
cultural affairs, the better pleased I am with them ; 
insomuch, that I can no where find so great satisfac- 
tion as in those innocent and useful pursuits : In 
indulging these feelings, I am led to reflect how 
much more delightful to an undebauched mind is 

112 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

the task of making improvements on the earth, than 
all the vain glory which can be acquired from rav- 
aging it, by the most uninterrupted career of con- 
quests." A visitor to Mount Vernon in 1785 states 
that his host's ** greatest pride is, to be thought the 
first farmer in America. He is quite a Cincinnatus." 

Undoubtedly a part of this liking flowed from his 
strong affection for Mount Vernon. Such was his 
feehng for the place that he never seems to have 
been entirely happy away from it, and over and 
over again, during his various and enforced absences, 
he ** sighs" or " pants" for his " own vine and fig 
tree." In writing to an English correspondent, he 
shows his feeling for the place by saying, " No estate 
in United America, is more pleasantly situated than 
this. It lies in a high, dry and healthy country, 
three hundred miles by water from the sea, and, as 
you will see by the plan, on one of the finest rivers 
in the world." 

The history of the Mount Vernon estate begins 
in 1674, when Lord Culpepper conveyed to Nicholas 
Spencer and Lieutenant-Colonel John Washington 
five thousand acres of land ''scytuate Lying and 
being within the said terrytory in the County of 
Stafford in the ffreshes of the Pottomocke River and 
. . . bounded betwixt two Creeks." Colonel John's 
half was bequeathed to his son Lawrence, and by 
Lawrence's will it was left to his daughter Mildred. 
She sold it to the father of George, who by his will 
left it to his son Lawrence, with a reversion to George 
should Lawrence die without issue. The original 
house was built about 1740, and the place was 

8 113 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

named Mount Vernon by Lawrence, in honor of 
Admiral Vernon, under whom he had served at 
Carthagena. After the death of Lawrence, the estate 
of twenty-five hundred acres came under Washing- 
ton's management, and from 1754 it was his home, 
as it had been practically even in his brother's life. 

Twice Washington materially enlarged the house 
at Mount Vernon, the first time in 1760 and the 
second in 1785, and a visitor reports, what his host 
must have told him, that *' its a pity he did not build 
a new one at once, for it has cost him nearly as 
much to repair his old one." These alterations 
consisted in the addition of a banquet-hall at one 
end (by far the finest room in the house), and a 
library and dining-room at the other, with the addi- 
tion of an entire story to the whole. 

The grounds, too, were very much improved. A 
fine approach, or bowling green, was laid out, a 
" botanical garden," a "shrubbery," and greenhouses 
were added, and in every way possible the place was 
improved. A deer paddock was laid out and stocked, 
gifts of Chinese pheasants and geese, French par- 
tridges, and guinea-pigs were sent him, and were 
gratefully acknowledged, and from all the world 
over came curious, useful, or beautiful plants. 

The original tract did not satisfy the ambition of 
the farmer, and from the time he came into the pos-. 
session of Mount Vernon he was a persistent pur- 
chaser of lands adjoining the property. In 1 760 he 
bargained with one Clifton for "a tract called Brents," 
of eighteen hundred and six acres, but after the 
agreement was closed the seller, ** under pretence of 

114 













'^V 



Y^\^A,iJi, 



^(r 



\ T/'- 









,, J 



WASHINGTON'S SURVEY OF MOUNT VERNON, CIRCA I746 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

his wife not consenting to acknowledge her right of 
dower wanted to disengage himself . . . and by his 
shuffling behavior convinced me of his being the 
trifling body represented." Presently Washington 
heard that Clifton had sold his lands to another for 
twelve hundred pounds, which ** fully unravelled his 
conduct . . . and convinced me that he was nothing 
less than a thorough pac'd rascall." Meeting the 
*' rascall" at a court, " much discourse," Washington 
states, "happened between him and I concerning 
his ungenerous treatment of me, the whole turning 
to little account, 'tis not worth reciting." After 
much more friction, the land was finally sold at 
public auction, and ** I bought it for ;^i2io SterHng, 
[and] under many threats and disadvantages paid 
the money." 

In 1778, when some other land was offered, Wash- 
ington wrote to his agent, *' I have premised these 
things to shew my inability, not my unwillingness to 
purchase the Lands in my own Neck at (almost) any 
price — & this I am very desirous of doing if it could 
be accomplished by any means in my power, in ye 
way of Barter for other Land — for Negroes ... or 
in short — for any thing else . . . but for money I 
cannot, I want the means." Again, in 1782, he 
wrote, " Inform Mr. Dulany, . . . that I look upon 
;£"2000 to be a great price for his land ; that my 
wishes to obtain it do not proceed from its intrinsic 
value, but from the motives I have candidly assigned 
in my other letter. That to indulge this fancy, (for 
in truth there is more fancy than judgment in it) I 
have submitted, or am willing to submit, to the dis- 

"5 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

advantage of borrowing as large a sum as I think 
this Land is worth, in order to come at it." 

By thus purchasing whenever an opportunity oc- 
curred, the property was increased from the twenty- 
five hundred acres which had come into Washington's 
possession by inheritance to an estate exceeding 
eight thousand acres, of which over thirty-two hun- 
dred were actually under cultivation during the latter 
part of its owner's life. 

To manage so vast a tract, the property was sub- 
divided into several tracts, called ** Mansion House 
Farm," ''River Farm," ** Union Farm," ''Muddy 
Hole Farm," and " Dogue Run Farm," each having 
an overseer to manage it, and each being operated 
as a separate plantation, though a general overseer 
controlled the w^hole, and each farm derived com- 
mon benefit from the property as a whole. "On 
Saturday in the afternoon, every week, reports are 
made by all his overseers, and registered in books 
kept for the purpose," and these accounts were so 
schemed as to show how every negro's and laborer's 
time had been employed during the whole week, 
what crops had been planted or gathered, what in- 
crease or loss of stock had occurred, and every other 
detail of farm-work. During Washington's absences 
from Mount Vernon his chief overseer sent him 
these reports, as well as wrote himself, and weekly 
the manager received in return long letters of in- 
struction, sometimes to the length of sixteen pages, 
which showed most wonderful familiarity with every 
acre of the estate and the character of every laborer, 
and are little short of marvellous when account is 

ii6 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

taken of the pressure of public affairs that rested 
upon their writer as he framed them. 

When Washington became a farmer, but one sys- 
tem of agriculture, so far as Virginia was concerned, 
existed, which he described long after as follows : 

*' A piece of land is cut down, and kept under constant cultiva- 
tion, first in tobacco, and then in Indian corn (two very exhausting 
plants), until it will yield scarcely any thing ; a second piece is 
cleared, and treated in the same manner ; then a third and so on, until 
probably there is but little more to clear. When this happens, the 
owner finds himself reduced to the choice of one of three things — 
either to recover the land which he has ruined, to accomplish which, 
he has perhaps neither the skill, the industry, nor the means ; or to 
retire beyond the mountains ; or to substitute quantity for quality, in 
order to raise something. The latter has been generally adopted, 
and, with the assistance of horses, he scratches over much ground, 
and seeds it, to very little purpose." 

Knowing no better, Washington adopted this one- 
crop system, even to the extent of buying corn and 
hogs to feed his hands. Though following in the 
beaten track, he experimented in different kinds of 
tobacco, so that, *' by comparing then the loss of 
the one with the extra price of the other, I shall be 
able to determine which is the best to pursue." The 
largest crop he ever seems to have produced, '* being 
all sweet-scented and neatly managed," was one 
hundred and fifteen hogsheads, which averaged in 
sale twelve pounds each. 

From a very early time Washington had been a 
careful student of such books on agriculture as he 
could obtain, even preparing lengthy abstracts of 
them, and the knowledge he thus obtained, com- 
bined with his own practical experience, soon con- 

117 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

vinced him that the Virginian system was wrong. 
"I never ride on my plantations," he wrote, "with- 
out seeing something which makes me regret having 
continued so long in the ruinous mode of farming, 
which we are in," and he soon "discontinued the 
growth of tobacco myself; [and] except at a planta- 
tion or two upon York River, I make no more of 
that article than barely serves to furnish me with 
goods." 

From this, time (1765) "the whole of my force 
[was] in a manner confined to the growth of wheat 
and manufacturing of it into flour," and before long 
he boasted that " the wheat from some of my planta- 
tions, by one pair of steelyards, will weigh upwards 
of sixty pounds, . . . and better wheat than I now 
have I do not expect to make." After the Revolu- 
tion he claimed that " no wheat that has ever yet 
fallen under my observation exceeds the wheat which 
some years ago I cultivated extensively but which, 
from inattention during my absence of almost nine 
years from home, has got so mixed or degenerated 
as scarcely to retain any of its original characteristics 
properly." In 1768 he was able to sell over nine- 
teen hundred bushels, and how greatly his product 
was increased after this is shown by the fact that in 
this same year he sowed four hundred and ninety 
bushels. 

Still further study and experimentation led him to 
conclude that " my countrymen are too much used 
to corn blades and corn shucks ; and have too little 
knowledge of the profit of grass lands," and after 
his final home-coming to Mount Vernon, he said, "I 

118 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

have had it in contemplation ever since I returned 
home to turn my farms to grazing principally, as fast 
as I can cover the fields sufficiently with grass. Labor 
and of course expence will be considerably dimin- 
ished by this change, the nett profit as great and my 
attention less divided, whilst the fields will be im- 
proving." That this was only an abandonment of 
a "one crop" system is shown by the fact that in 
1 792 he grew over five thousand bushels of wheat, 
valued at four shiUings the bushel, and in 1799 he 
said, *' as a farmer, wheat and flour are my principal 
concerns." And though, in abandoning the growth 
of tobacco, Washington also tried " to grow as little 
Indian corn as may be," yet in 1795 his crop was 
over sixteen hundred barrels, and the quantity 
needed for his own negroes and stock is shown in a 
year when his crop failed, which ** obliged me to 
purchase upwards of eight hundred barrels of corn." 

In connection with this change of system, Wash- 
ington became an early convert to the rotation of 
crops, and drew up elaborate tables sometimes cov- 
ering periods of five years, so that the quantity of 
each crop should not vary, yet by which his fields 
should have constant change. This system natu- 
rally very much diversified the product of his estate, 
and flax, hay, clover, buckwheat, turnips, and pota- 
toes became large crops. The scale on which this 
was done is shown by the facts that in one year he 
sowed twenty-seven bushels of flaxseed and planted 
over three hundred bushels of potatoes. 

Early and late Washington preached to his over- 
seers the value of fertilization ; in one case, when 

119 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

looking for a new overseer, *he said the man must be, 
" above all, Midas like, one who can convert every- 
thing he touches into manure, as the first transmuta- 
tion towards gold ; — in a word one who can bring 
worn out and gullied Lands into good tilth in the 
shortest time." Equally emphatic was his urging of 
constant ploughing and grubbing, and he even in- 
vented a deep soil plough, which he used till he found 
a better one in the English Rotheran plough, which 
he promptly imported, as he did all other improved 
farming tools and machinery of which he could learn. 
To save his woodlands, and for appearance's sake, he 
insisted on live fences, though he had to acknowledge 
that " no hedge, alone, will, I am persuaded, do for 
an outer inclosure, where two or four footed hogs 
find it convenient to open passage." In all things 
he was an experimentalist, carefully trying different 
kinds of tobacco and wheat, various kinds of plants 
for hedges, and various kinds of manure for fertil- 
izers ; he had tests made to see whether he could 
sell his wheat to best advantage in the grain or when 
made into flour, and he bred from selected horses, 
cattle, and sheep. '* In short I shall begrudge no 
reasonable expence that will contribute to the im- 
provement and neatness of my Farms ; — for nothing 
pleases me better than to see them in good order, 
and everything trim, handsome, and thriving about 
them." 

The magnitude of the charge of such an estate 
can be better understood when the condition of a 
Virginia plantation is realized. Before the Revolu- 
tion practically everything the plantation could not 

1 20 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

produce was ordered yearly from Great Britain, and 
after the annual delivery of the invoices the estate 
could look for little outside help. Nor did t'lis 
change rapidly after the Revolution, and during the 
period of Washington's management almost every- 
thing was bought in yearly supplies. This system 
compelled each plantation to be a little world unto 
itself; indeed, the three hundred souls on the Mount 
Vernon estate went far to make it a distinct and 
self-supporting community, and one of Washington's 
standing orders to his overseers was to '* buy nothing 
you can make within yourselves." Thus the planting 
and gathering of the crops were but a small part of 
the work to be done. 

A corps of workmen — some negroes, some in- 
dentured servants, and some hired laborers — were 
kept on the estate. A blacksmith-shop occupied 
some, doing not merely the work of the plantation, 
but whatever business was brought to them from 
outside ; and a wood-burner kept them and the 
mansion-house supplied with charcoal. A gang of 
carpenters were kept busy, and their spare time was 
utilized in framing houses to be put up in Alexandria, 
or in the ''Federal city," as Washington was called 
before the death of its namesake. A brick-maker, 
too, was kept constantly employed, and masons 
utilized the product of his labor. The gardener's 
gang had charge of the kitchen-garden, and set out 
thousands of grape-vines, fruit-trees, and hedge- 
plants. 

A water-mill, with its staff, not merely ground 
meal for the hands, but produced a fine flour that 

121 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

commanded extra price in the market. In 1786 
Washington asserted that his flour was *' equal, I 
believe, in quality to any made in this country," 
and the Mount Vernon brand was of such value that 
some money was made by buying outside wheat 
and grinding it into flour. The coopers of the es- 
tate made the barrels in which it was packed, and 
Washington's schooner carried it to market. 

The estate had its own shoemaker, and in time a 
staff* of weavers was trained. Before this was ob- 
tained, in 1760, though with only a modicum of the 
force he presently had, Washington ordered from 
London '^450 ells of Osnabrig, 4 pieces of Brown 
Wools, 350 yards of Kendall Cotton, and 100 yards 
of Dutch blanket." By 1768 he was manufacturing 
the chief part of his requirements, for in that year 
his weavers produced eight hundred and fifteen and 
three-quarter yards of linen, three hundred and sixty- 
five and one-quarter yards of woollen, one hundred 
and forty-four yards of linsey, and forty yards of 
cotton, or a total of thirteen hundred and sixty-five 
and one-half yards, one man and five negro girls 
having been employed. When once the looms were 
well organized an infinite variety of cloths was pro- 
duced, the accounts mentioning "striped woollen, 
woolen plaided, cotton striped, linen, wool-birdseye, 
cotton filled with wool, linsey, M.'s & O.'s, cotton- 
India dimity, cotton jump stripe, linen filled with 
tow, cotton striped with silk, Roman M., Janes 
twilled, huccabac, broadcloth, counterpain, birdseye 
diaper, Kirsey wool, barragon, fustian, bed-ticking, 
herring-box, and shalloon." 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

One of the most important features of the estate 
was its fishery, for the catch, salted down, largely 
served in place of meat for the negroes' food. Of 
this advantage Washington wrote, ''This river, . , . 
is well supplied with various kinds of fish at all sea- 
sons of the year ; and, in the spring, with the greatest 
profusion of shad, herrings, bass, carp, perch, stur- 
geon, &c. Several valuable fisheries appertain to 
the estate ; the whole shore, in short, is one entire 
fishery." Whenever there was a run of fish, the 
seine was drawn, chiefly for herring and shad, and in 
good years this not merely amply supplied the home 
requirements, but allowed of sales ; four or five 
shillings the thousand for herring and ten shillings 
the hundred for shad were the average prices, and 
sales of as high as eighty-five thousand herring were 
made in a single year. 

In 1795, when the United States passed an excise 
law, distilling became particularly profitable, and a 
still was set up on the plantation. In this whiskey 
was made from *' Rye chiefly and Indian corn in a 
certain proportion," and this not merely used much 
of the estate's product of those two grains, but 
quantities were purchased from elsewhere. In 1798 
the profit from the distilleiy was three hundred and 
forty-four pounds twelve shillings and seven and 
three-quarter pence, with a stock carried over of 
seven hundred and fifty-five and one-quarter gal- 
lons ; but this was the most successful year. Cider, 
too, was made in large quantities. 

A stud stable was from an early time maintained, 
and the Virginia papers regularly advertised that the 

123 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

stud horse "Samson," ''Magnolia," " Leonidas," 
"Traveller," or whatever the reigning stallion of the 
moment might be, would "cover"' mares at Mount 
Vernon, with pasturage and a guarantee of foal, if 
their owners so elected. During the Revolution 
Washington bought twenty-seven of the army mares 
that had been " worn-down so as to render it bene- 
ficial to the public to have them sold," not even ob- 
jecting to those "low in flesh or even crippled," 
because " I have many large Farms and am improv- 
ing a good deal of Land into Meadow and Pasture, 
which cannot fail of being profited by a number of 
Brood Mares." In addition to the stud, there were, 
in 1793, fifty-four draught horses on the estate. 

A unique feature of this stud was the possession 
of two jackasses, of which the history was curious. 
At that time there was a law in Spain (where the 
best breed was to be found) which forbade the expor- 
tation of asses, but the king, hearing of Washington's 
wish to possess a jack, sent him one of the finest 
obtainable as a present, which was promptly chris- 
tened "Royal Gift." The sea-voyage and the change 
of climate, however, so affected him that for a time 
he proved of little value to his owner, except as a 
source of amusement, for Washington wrote Lafay- 
ette, "The Jack I have already received from Spain 
in appearance is fine, but his late Royal master, tho' 
past his grand climacteric cannot be less moved by 
female allurements than he is ; or when prompted, 
can proceed with more deliberation and majestic 
solemnity to the work of procreation." This reluc- 
tance to play his part Washington concluded was a 

124 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

sign of aristocracy, and he wrote a nephew, *' If 
Royal Gift will administer, he shall be at the semce 
of your Mares, but at present he seems too full of 
Royalty, to have anything to do with a plebeian 
Race," and to Fitzhugh he said, " particular atten- 
tion shall be paid to the mares which your servant 
brought, and when my Jack is in the humor, they 
shall derive all the benefit of his labor, for labor it 
appears to be. At present tho' young, he follows 
what may be supposed to be the example of his late 
Royal Master, who can not, tho' past his grand 
climacteric, perform seldomer or with more majestic 
solemnity than he does. However I am not without 
hope that when he becomes a little better acquainted 
with republican enjoyment, he will amend his man- 
ners, and fall into a better and more expeditious 
mode of doing business." This fortunately proved 
to be the case, and his master not merely secured 
such mules as he needed for his own use, but gained 
from him considerable profit by covering mares in 
the neighborhood. He even sent him on a tour 
through the South, and Royal Gift passed a whole 
winter in Charleston, South Carolina, with a result- 
ing profit of six hundred and seventy-eight dollars 
to his owner. In 1799 there were on the estate "2 
Covering Jacks & 3 young ones, 10 she asses, 42 
working mules and 15 younger ones." 

Of cattle there were in 1 793 a total of three hun- 
dred and seventeen head, including " a sufficiency of 
oxen broke to the yoke," and a dairy was operated 
separate from the farms, and some butter was made, 
but Washington had occasion to say, ** It is hoped, 

125 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

and will be expected, that more effectual measures 
will be pursued to make butter another year ; for it 
is almost beyond belief, that from lOi cows actually 
reported on a late enumeration of the cattle, that I 
am obliged to buy btUter for the use of my family." 

Sheep were an unusual adjunct of a Virginia plan- 
tation, and of his flock Washington wrote, " From 
the beginning of the year 1784 when I returned 
from the army, until shearing time of 1788, I im- 
proved the breed of my sheep so much by buying 
and selecting the best formed and most promising 
Rams, and putting them to my best ewes, by keep- 
ing them always well culled and clean, and by other 
attentions, that they averaged me . . . rather over 
than under five pounds of washed wool each." In 
another letter he said, ** I . . . was proud in being 
able to produce perhaps the largest mutton and the 
greatest quantity of wool from my sheep that could 
be produced. But I was not satisfied with this ; 
and contemplated further improvements both in the 
flesh and wool by the introduction of other breeds, 
which I should by this time have carried into effect, 
had I been permitted to pursue my favorite occupa- 
tion." In 1789, however, "I was again called from 
home, and have not had it in my power since to pay 
any attention to my farms. The consequence of 
which is, that my sheep at the last shearing, yielded 
me not more than 2^" pounds. In 1793 he had 
six hundred and thirty-four in his flock, from which 
he obtained fourteen hundred and fifty-seven pounds 
of fleece. Of hogs he had ** many," but ** as these 
run pretty much at large in the woodland, the num- 

126 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

ber is uncertain." In 1799 his manager valued his 
entire live-stock at seven thousand pounds. 

A separate account was kept of each farm, and 
of many of these separate departments, and when- 
ever there was a surplus of any product an account 
was opened to cover it. Thus in various years 
there are accounts raised dealing with cattle, hay, 
flour, flax, cord-wood, shoats, fish, whiskey, pork, 
etc., and his secretary, Shaw, told a visitor that the 
''books were as regular as any merchant whatever." 
It is proper to note, however, that sometimes they 
would not balance, and twice at least Washington 
could only force one, by entering *' By cash sup- 
posed to be paid away & not credited ;^ 1 7.6.2," and 
** By cash lost, stolen or paid away without charging 
^143.15.2." All these accounts were tabulated at 
the end of the year and the net results obtained. 
Those for a single year are here given: 



BALANCE OF GAIN AND LOSS, I798. 



Dr. gained. 
Dogue Run Farm . 397.11, 
Union Farm . . . 529,10. 
River Farm . . . 234, 4. 
Smith's Shop . . . 34.12, 
Distillery .... 83.13, 

Jacks 56. I 

Traveller (stud horse) 9,17 
Shoemaker . . . . 28.17. 

Fishery 165.12. 

Dairy 30.12. 



I 

I 



OVa 



Cr. lost. 

Mansion House , . 466. i8.2|g^ 

Muddy Hole Farm 60. 1.^%, 

Spinning 51. 2.0 

Hire of head over- 
seer 140. 0.0 



By Clear gain on 

the Estate . . . ;^898. 16.4X 



A pretty poor showing for an estate and negroes which 
had certainly cost him over fifty thousand dollars, 

127 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

and on which there was Hve-stock which at the 
lowest estimation was worth fifteen thousand dollars 
more. It is not strange that in 1793 Washington 
attempted to find tenants for all but the Mansion 
farm. This he reserved for my ''own residence, 
occupation and amusement," as Washington held 
that "idleness is disreputable," and in 1798 he told 
his chief overseer he did not choose to "discon- 
tinue my rides or become a cipher on my own 
estate." 

When at Mount Vernon, as this indicated, Wash- 
ington rode daily about his estate, and he has left a 
pleasant description of his life immediately after re- 
tiring from the Presidency: "I begin my diurnal 
course with the sun ; ... if my hirelings are not 
in their places at that time I send them messages 
expressive of my sorrow for their indisposition ; 
. . . having put these wheels in motion, I examine 
the state of things further ; and the more they are 
probed, the deeper I find the wounds are which my 
buildings have sustained by my absence and neglect 
of eight years ; by the time I have accomplished 
these matters, breakfast (a little after seven o'clock) 
... is ready ; . . . this being over, I mount my 
horse and ride round my farms, which employs me 
until it is time to dress for dinner." A visitor at 
this time is authority for the statement that the 
master " often works with his men himself — strips 
off his coat and labors like a common man. The 
General has a great turn for mechanics. It's aston- 
ishing with what niceness he directs everything in 
the building way, condescending even to measure 

128 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

the things himself, that all may be perfectly uni- 
form." 

This personal attention Washington was able to 
give only with very serious interruptions. From 
1754 till 1759 he was most of the time on the fron- 
tier ; for nearly nine years his Revolutionary service 
separated him absolutely from his property ; and 
during the two terms of his Presidency he had only 
brief and infrequent visits. Just one-half of his 
forty-six years' occupancy of Mount Vernon was 
given to public service. 

The result was that in 1757 he wrote, '* I am so 
little acquainted with the business relative to my 
private affairs that I can scarce give you any in- 
formation concerning it," and this was hardly less 
true of the whole period of his absences. In 1775 
he engaged overseers to manage his various estates 
in his absence ** upon shares," but during the whole 
war the plantations barely supported themselves, 
even with depletion of stock and fertility, and he 
was able to draw nothing from them. One overseer, 
and a confederate, he wrote, " I believe, divided the 
profits of my Estate on the York River, tolerably 
betwn. them, for the devil of any thing do I get." 
Well might he advise knowingly that *' I have no 
doubt myself but that middling land under a man's 
own eyes, is more profitable than rich land at a 
distance." "No Virginia Estate (except a very 
few under the best of management) can stand sim- 
ple Interest," he declared, and went even further 
when he wrote, '* the nature of a Virginia Estate 
being such,'that without close application, it never 
9 129 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

fails bringing the proprietors in Debt annually." 
"To speak within bounds," he said, ''ten thousand 
pounds will not compensate the losses I might have 
avoided by being at home, & attending a Httle to 
my own concerns" during the Revolution. 

Fortunately for the farmer, the Mount Vernon 
estate was but a small part of his property. His 
father had left him a plantation of two hundred and 
eighty acres on the Rappahannock, " one Moiety of 
my Land lying on Deep Run," three lots in Fred- 
erick "with all the houses and Appurtenances 
thereto belonging," and one quarter of the residuary 
estate. While surveying for Lord Fairfax in 1748, 
as part of his compensation Washington patented a 
tract of five hundred and fifty acres in Frederick 
County, which he always spoke of as " My Bull- 
skin plantation." 

As a military bounty in the French and Indian 
War the governor of Virginia issued a proclamation 
granting Western lands to the soldiers, and under 
this Washington not merely secured fifteen thou- 
sand acres in his own right, but by buying the 
claims of some of his fellow-officers doubled that 
quantity. A further tract was also obtained under 
the kindred proclamation of 1763, " 5000 Acres of 
Land in my own right, & by purchase from Captn. 
Roots, Posey, & some other officers, I obtained rights 
to several thousand more." In 1786, after sales, he 
had over thirty thousand acres, which he then offered 
to sell at thirty thousand guineas, and in 1799, when 
still more had been sc'd, his inventory valued the 
holdings at nearly three hundred thousand dollars. 

130 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

In addition, Washington was a partner in several 
great land speculations, — the Ohio Company, the 
Walpole Grant, the Mississippi Company, the Mili- 
tary Company of Adventures, and the Dismal Swamp 
Company ; but all these ventures except the last 
collapsed at the beginning of the Revolution and 
proved valueless. His interest in the Dismal Swamp 
Company he held at the time of his death, and it 
was valued in the inventoiy at twenty thousand 
dollars. 

The properties that came to him from his brother 
Lawrence and with his wife have already been de- 
scribed. It may be worth noting that with the 
widow of Lawrence there was a dispute over the 
will, but apparently it was never carried into the 
courts, and that owing to the great depreciation of 
paper money during the Revolution the Custis per- 
sonal property was materially lessened, for ** I am 
now receiving a shiUing in the pound in discharge 
of Bonds which ought to have been paid me, & 
would have been realized before I left Virginia, but 
for my indulgences to the debtors," Washington 
wrote, and in 1778 he said, "by the comparitive 
worth of money, six or seven thousand pounds 
which I have in Bonds upon Interest is now re- 
duced to as many hundreds because I can get no 
more for a thousand at this day than a hundred 
would have fetched when I left Virginia, Bonds, 
debts. Rents, &c. undergoing no change while the 
currency is depreciating in value and for ought I 
know may in a little time be totally sunk." Indeed, 
in 1 78 1 he complained "that I have totally ne- 

131 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

glected all my private concerns, which are declining 
every day, and may, possibly, end in capital losses, 
if not absolute ruin, before I am at liberty to look 
after them." 

In 1784 he became partner with George Clinton 
in some land purchases in the State of New York 
with the expectation of buying the ''mineral springs 
at Saratoga ; and . . . the Oriskany tract, on which 
Fort Schuyler stands." In this they were disap- 
pointed, but six thousand acres in the Mohawk 
valley were obtained ** amazingly cheap." Wash- 
ington's share cost him, including interest, eighteen 
hundred and seventy five pounds, and in 1793 two- 
thirds of the land had been sold for three thousand 
four hundred pounds, and in his inventory of 1799 
Washington valued what he still held of the property 
at six thousand dollars. 

In 1790, having inside information that the capital 
was to be removed from New York to Philadelphia, 
Washington tried to purchase a farm near that city, 
foreseeing a speedy rise in value. In this apparently 
he did not succeed. Later he purchased lots in the 
new Federal city, and built houses on two of them. 
He also had town lots in Williamsburg, Alexandria, 
Winchester, and Bath. In addition to all this prop- 
erty there were many smaller holdings. Much was 
sold or traded, yet when he died, besides his wife's 
real estate and the Mount Vernon property, he 
possessed fifty-one thousand three hundred and 
ninety-five acres, exclusive of town property. A 
contemporary said " that General Washington is, 
perhaps, the greatest landholder in America." 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

All these lands, except Mount Vernon, were, so 
far as possible, rented, but the net income was not 
large. Rent agents were employed to look after 
the tenants, but low rents, war, paper money, a 
shifting population, and Washington's dishke of 
lawsuits all tended to reduce the receipts, and the 
landlord did not get simple interest on his invest- 
ments. Thus, in 1799 he complains of slow pay- 
ments from tenants in Washington and Lafayette 
Counties (Pennsylvania). Instead of an expected 
six thousand dollars, due June i, but seventeen 
hundred dollars were received. 

Income, however, had not been his object in load- 
ing himself with such a vast property, as Washington 
believed that he was certain to become rich. ** For 
proof of" the rise of land, he wrote in 1767, "only 
look to Frederick, [count)^] and see what fortunes 
were made by the . . . first taking up of those 
lands. Nay, how the greatest estates we have in 
this colony were made. Was it not by taking up 
and purchasing at very low rates the rich back lands, 
which were thought nothing of in those days, but 
are now the most valuable land we possess?" 

In this he was correct, but in the mean time he 
was more or less land-poor. To a friend in 1763 he 
wrote that the stocking and repairing of his planta- 
tions " and other matters . . . swallowed up before 
I well knew where I was, all the moneys I got by 
marriage, nay more, brought me in debt." In 1775, 
replying to a request for a loan, he declared that 
"so far am I from having i^200 to lend ... I would 
gladly borrow that sum myself for a few months." 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

When offered land adjoining Mount Vernon for three 
thousand pounds in 1778, he could only reply that 
it was " a sum I have little chance, if I had inclina- 
tion, to pay ; & therefore would not engage it, as I 
am resolved not to incumber myself with Debt." 
In 1782, to secure a much-desired tract he was 
forced to borrow two thousand pounds York currency 
at the rate of seven per cent. 

In 1788, '*the total loss of my crop last year by 
the drought" "with necessary demands for cash" 
"have caused me much perplexity and given me 
more uneasiness than I ever experienced before from 
want of money," and a year later, just before setting 
out to be inaugurated, he tried to borrow five hun- 
dred pounds "to discharge what I owe" and to pay 
the expenses of the journey to New York, but was 
"unable to obtain more than half of it, (though it 
was not much I required), and this at an advanced 
interest with other rigid conditions," though at this 
time " could I get in one fourth part of what is 
due me on Bonds" "without the intervention of 
suits" there would have been ample funds. In 1795 
the President said, " my friends entertain a very 
erroneous idea of my particular resources, when they 
set me down for a money lender, or one who (now) 
has a command of it. You may believe me when I 
assert that the bonds which were due to me before 
the Revolution, were discharged during the progress 
of it — with a few exceptions in depreciated paper 
(in some instances as low as a shilling in the pound). 
That such has been the management of the Estate, 
for many years past, especially since my absence 

134 






p^imssi 



r: ^ 



/ 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

from home, now six years, as scarcely to support 
itself. That my public allowance (whatever the 
world may think of it) is inadequate to the expence 
of living in this City ; to such an extravagant height 
has the necessaries as well as the conveniences of 
life arisen. And, moreover that to keep myself out 
of debt ; I have found it expedient now and then to 
sell Lands, or something else to effect this purpose." 
As these extensive land ventures bespoke a na- 
tional characteristic, so a liking for other forms of 
speculation was innate in the great American. Dur- 
ing the Revolution he tried to secure an interest in a 
privateer. One of his favorite flyers was chances in 
lotteries and raffles, which, if now found only in 
association with church fairs, were then not merely 
respectable, but even fashionable. In 1760 five 
pounds and ten shillings were invested in one lottery. 
Five pounds purchased five tickets in Strother's 
lottery in 1763. Three years later six pounds were 
risked in the York lottery and produced prizes to 
the extent of sixteen pounds. Fifty pounds were 
put into Colonel Byrd's lottery in 1 769, and drew a 
half-acre lot in the town of Manchester, but out of 
this Washington was defrauded. In 1 79 1 John Potts 
was paid four pounds and four shillings " in part for 
20 Lottery tickets in the Alexa. street Lottery at 
61 each, 14 Dollrs. the Bal. was discharged by 2.3 
Lotr prizes." Twenty tickets of Peregrine and 
Fitzhugh's lottery cost one hundred and eighty-eight 
dollars in 1794. And these are but samples of 
innumerable instances. So, too, in raffles, the entries 
are constant, — ''for glasses 20/," *'for a Necklace 

135 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

£i.,'' '*by profit & loss in'two chances in raffling for 
Encyclopadia Britannica, which I did not win ;^i.4," 
two tickets were taken in the raffle of Mrs. Dawson's 
coach, as were chances for a pair of silver buckles, 
for a watch, and for a gun ; such and many others 
were smaller ventures Washington took. 

There were other sources of income or loss be- 
sides. Before the Revolution he had a good-sized 
holding of Bank of England stock, and an annuity 
in the funds, besides considerable property on bond, 
the larger part of which, as already noted, was 
liquidated in depreciated paper money. This paper 
money was for the most part put into United States 
securities, and eventually the "at least i^io,ooo 
Virginia money" proved to be worth six thousand 
two hundred and forty-six dollars in government six 
per cents and three per cents. A great believer in 
the Potomac Canal Company, Washington invested 
twenty- four hundred pounds sterling in the stock, 
which produced no income, and in time showed a 
heavy shrinkage. Another and smaller loss was an 
investment in the James River Canal Company. 
Stock holdings in the Bank of Columbia and in the 
Bank of Alexandria proved profitable investments. 

None the less Washington was a successful busi- 
ness man. Though his property rarely produced a 
net income, and though he served the public with 
practically no profit (except as regards bounty lands), 
and thus was compelled frequently to dip into his 
capital to pay current expenses, yet, from being a 
surveyor only too glad to earn a doubloon (seven 
dollars and forty cents) a day, he grew steadily in 

1^6 



FARMER AND PROPRIETOR 

wealth, and when he died his property, exclusive of 
his wife's and the Mount Vernon estate, was valued 
at five hundred and thirty thousand dollars. This 
made him one of the wealthiest Americans of his 
time, and it is to be questioned if a fortune was 
ever more honestly acquired or more thoroughly 
deserved. 



137 



VI 

MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

In his ''rules of civility" Washington enjoined 
that "those of high Degree ought to treat" "Artifi- 
cers & Persons of low Degree" "with affibility & 
Courtesie, without Arrogancy," and it was a needed 
lesson to every young Virginian, for, as Jefferson 
wrote, "the whole commerce between master and 
slave is a perpetual exercise of the most boisterous 
passions, the most insulting despotism on the one 
part, and degrading submissions on the other." 

Augustine Washington's will left to his son George 
"Ten negro Slaves," with an additional share of those 
"not herein particularly Devised," but all to remain 
in the possession of Mary Washington until the boy 
was twenty-one years of age. With his taking pos- 
session of the Mount Vernon estate in his twenty- 
second year eighteen more came under Washington's 
direction. In 1754 he bought a "fellow" for ^40.5, 
another (Jack) for ;^52. 5, and a negro woman (Clio) 
for £$0. In 1756 he purchased of the governor a 
negro woman and child for £60, and two years later 
a fellow (Gregory) for ;^6o.9. In the following year 
(the year of his marriage) he bought largely : a 
negro (Will) for ;^50 ; another for £60 ; nine for 
£406, an average of £4$ ; and a woman (Hannah) 
and child, ;^8o. In 1762 he added to the number 

138 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

by purchasing seven of Lee Massey for ;^300 (an 
average of £43), and two of Colonel Fielding Lewis 
at ;^ii5, or ;^57. 10 apiece. From the estate of 
Francis Hobbs he bought, in 1764, Ben, jCy2 ; Lewis, 
;^36. 10; and Sarah, ^20. Another fellow, bought 
of Sarah Alexander, cost him £y6 ; and a negro 
(Judy) and child, sold by Garvin Corbin, £6;^. In 
1768 Mary Lee sold him two mulattoes (Will and 
Frank) for ^^61.15 and £s^j respectively; and two 
boys (negroes), Adam and Frank, for ;^I9 apiece. 
Five more were purchased in 1772, and after that 
no more were bought. In 1760 Washington paid 
tithes on forty-nine slaves, five years later on seventy- 
eight, in 1770 on eighty-seven, and in 1774 on one 
hundred and thirty-five ; besides which must be 
included the "dower slaves" of his wife. Soon 
after this there was an overplus, and Washington in 
1778 offered to barter for some land ''Negroes, of 
whom I every day long more to get clear of," and 
even before this he had learned the economic fact 
that except on the richest of soils slaves " only add 
to the Expence." 

In 1791 he had one hundred and fifteen "hands" 
on the Mount Vernon estate, besides house servants, 
and De Warville, describing his estate in the same 
year, speaks of his having three hundred negroes. 
At this time Washington declared that " I never 
mean (unless some particular circumstance compel 
me to it) to possess another slave by purchase," but 
this intention was broken, for **The running off of 
my cook has been a most inconvenient thing to this 
family, and what rendered it more disagreeable, is 

139 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

that I had resolved never to become the Master of 
another slave by purchase, but this resolution I fear 
I must break. I have endeavored to hire, black or 
white, but am not yet supplied." 

A few more slaves were taken in payment of a 
debt, but it was from necessity rather than choice, 
for at this very time Washington had decided that 
"it is demonstratively clear, that on this Estate 
(Mount Vernon) I have more working negros by a 
full moiety, than can be employed to any advantage 
in the farming system, and I shall never turn Planter 
thereon. To sell the overplus I cannot, because 1 
am principled against this kind of traffic in the 
human species. To hire them out, is almost as bad, 
because they could not be disposed of in families to 
any advantage, and to disperse the families I have 
an aversion. What then is to be done ? Something 
must or I shall be ruined ; for all the money (in 
addition to what I raise by crops, and rents) that 
have been received for Lands, sold within the last 
four years, to the amount of Fifty thousand dollars, 
has scarcely been able to keep me afloat." And 
writing of one set he said, "it would be for my 
interest to set them free, rather than give them 
victuals and cloaths." 

The loss by runaways was not apparently large. 
In October, 1760, his ledger contains an item of 
seven shillings "To the Printing Office ... for 
Advertising a run-a-way Negro." In 176 1 he pays 
his clergyman, Rev. Mr. Green, " for taking up one 
of my Runaway Negroes ;^4." In 1766 rewards 
are paid for the "taking up" of "Negro Tom" and 

140 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

"Negro Bett" The "taking up of Harry when 
Runaway" in 1771 cost;^i.i6. When the British 
invaded Virginia in 1781, a number escaped or 
were carried away by the enemy. By the treaty 
of peace these should have been returned, and their 
owner wrote, "Some of my own slaves, and those 
of Mr. Lund Washington who lives at my house 
may probably be in New York, but I am unable to 
give you their description — their names being so 
easily changed, will be fruitless to give you. If by 
chance you should come at the knowledge of any 
of them, I will be much obliged by your securing 
them, so that I may obtain them again." 

In 1796 a girl absconded to New England, and 
Washington made inquiries of a friend as to the 
possibility of recovering her, adding, " however well 
disposed I might be to a gradual abolition, or even 
to an entire emancipation of that description of 
people (if the latter was in itself practicable) at this 
moment, it would neither be politic nor just to re- 
ward unfaithfulness with a premature preference, 
and thereby discontent beforehand the minds of all 
her fellow servants, who, by their steady attachment, 
are far more deserving than herself of favor," and at 
this time Washington wrote to a relative, "I am 
sorry to hear of the loss of your servant; but it is 
my opinion these elopements will be much more, 
before they are less frequent ; and that the persons 
making them should never be retained — if they are 
recovered, as they are sure to contaminate and dis- 
content others." 

Another source of loss was sickness, which, in 
141 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

spite of all Washington could do, made constant 
inroads on the numbers. A doctor to care for them 
was engaged by the year, and in the contracts with 
his overseers clauses were always inserted that each 
was " to take all necessary and proper care of the 
Negroes committed to his management using them 
with proper humanity and descretion," or that "he 
will take all necessary and proper care of the negroes 
committed to his management, treating them with 
humanity and tenderness when sick, and preventing 
them when well, from running about and visiting 
without his consent ; as also forbid strange negroes 
frequenting^ their quarters without lawful excuses for 
so doing." 

Furthermore, in writing to his manager, while ab- 
sent from Mount Vernon, Washington reiterated 
that ''although it is last mentioned it is foremost 
in my thoughts, to desire you will be particularly 
attentive to my negros in their sickness ; and to 
order every overseer positively to be so likewise ; for 
I am sorry to observe that the generality of them 
view these poor creatures in scarcely any other 
light than they do a draught horse or ox ; neglect- 
ing them as much when they are unable to work ; 
instead of comforting and nursing them when they 
lye on a sick bed." And in another letter he 
added, "When I recommended care of, and atten- 
tion to my negros in sickness, it was that the first 
stage of, and the whole progress through the dis- 
orders with which they might be seized (if more than 
a slight indisposition) should be closely watched, 
and timely applications and remedies be adminis- 

142 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

tered ; especially in the pleurisies, and all inflamma- 
tory disorders accompanied with pain, when a few 
days' neglect, or want of bleeding might render the 
ailment incurable. In such cases sweeten' d teas, 
broths and (according to the nature of the complaint, 
and the doctor's prescription) sometimes a little 
wine, may be necessary to nourish and restore the 
patient ; and these I am perfectly willing to allow, 
when it is requisite. My fear is, as I expressed to 
you in a former letter, that the under overseers are 
so unfeeling, in short viewing the negros in no other 
light than as a better kind of cattle, the moment 
they cease to work, they cease their care of them." 

At Mount Vernon his care for the slaves was more 
personal. At a time when the small-pox was rife in 
Virginia he instructed his overseer *' what to do if 
the Small pox should come amongst them," and 
when he " received letters from Winchester, inform- 
ing me that the Small pox had got among my quar- 
ters in Frederick; [I] determin'd . . . to leave town 
as soon as possible, and proceed up to them. . . . 
After taking the Doctors directions in regard to my 
people ... I set out for my quarters about 12 
oclock, time enough to go over them and found 
every thing in the utmost confusion, disorder and 
backwardness. . . . Got Blankets and every other 
requisite from Winchester, and settl'd things on the 
best footing I cou'd, . . . Val Crawford agreeing 
if any of those at the upper quarter got it, to have 
themi remov'd into my room and the Nurse sent for." 

Other sickness was equally attended to, as the fol- 
lowing entries in his diary show : '* visited my Plan- 

143 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

tations and found two negroes sick . . . ordered 
them to be blooded;" "found that Hghtening had 
struck my quarters and near lo Negroes in it, some 
very bad but with letting blood they recover'd;" 
" ordered Lucy down to the House to be Physikd," 
and " found the new negro Cupid, ill of a pleurisy 
at Dogue Run Quarter and had him brot home in a 
cart for better care of him. . . . Cupid extremely 111 
all this day and at night when I went to bed I thought 
him within a few hours of breathing his last." 

This matter of sickness, however, had another 
phase, which caused Washington much irritation at 
times when he could not personally look into the 
cases, but heard of them through the reports of his 
overseers. Thus, he complained on one occasion, 
" I find by reports that Sam is, in a manner, always 
returned sick ; Doll at the Ferry, and several of the 
spinners very frequently so, for a week at a stretch ; 
and ditcher Charles often laid up with lameness. I 
never wish my people to work when they are really 
sick, or unfit for it ; on the contrary, that all neces- 
sary care should be taken of them when they are 
so ; but if you do not examine into their complaints, 
they will lay by when no more ails them, than all 
those who stick to their business, and are not com- 
plaining from the fatigue and drowsiness which they 
feel as the effect of night walking and other prac- 
tices which unfit them for the duties of the day." 
And again he asked, " Is there anything particular 
in the cases of Ruth, Hannah and Pegg, that they 
have been returned sick for several weeks together ? 
Ruth I know is extremely deceitful ; she has been 

144 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

aiming for some time past to get into the house, ex- 
empt from work ; but if they are not made to do 
what their age and strength will enable them, it will 
be a bad example for others — none of whom would 
work if by pretexts they can avoid it." 

Other causes than running away and death de- 
pleted the stock. One negro was taken by the 
State for some crime and executed, an allowance of 
sixty-nine pounds being made to his master. In 
1766 an unruly negro was shipped to the West Indies 
(as was then the custom), Washington writing the 
captain of the vessel, — 

♦'With this letter comes a negro (Tom) which I beg the favor of 
you to sell in any of the islands you may go to, for whatever he 
will fetch, and bring me in return for him 

♦' One hhd of best molasses 

*' One ditto of best rum 

**One barrel of lymes, if good and cheap 

*'One pot of tamarinds, containing about 10 lbs. 

'♦Two small ditto of mixed sweetmeats, about 5 lbs. each. 
And the residue, much or little, in good old spirits. That this fel- 
low is both a rogue and a runaway (tho' he was by no means re- 
markable for the former, and never practised the latter till of late) 
I shall not pretend to deny. But that he is exceeding healthy, 
strong, and good at the hoe, the whole neighborhood can testify, 
and particularly Mr. Johnson and his son, who have both had him 
under them as foreman of the gang ; which gives me reason to hope 
he may with your good management sell well, if kept clean and 
trim'd up a little when offered for sale." 

Another " misbehaving fellow" was shipped off in 
1791, and was sold for ''one pipe and Quarter Cask 
of wine from the West Indies." Sometimes only 
the threat of such riddance was used, as when an 
overseer complained of one slave, and his master 
replied, " I am very sorry that so likely a fellow as 
10 145 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Matilda's Ben should addict himself to such courses 
as he is pursuing. If he should be guilty of any 
atrocious crime, that would effect his life, he might 
be given up to the civil authority for trial ; but for 
such offences as most of his color are guilty of, you 
had better try further correction, accompanied with 
admonition and advice. The two latter sometimes 
succeed where the first has failed. He, his father 
and mother (who I dare say are his receivers) may 
be told in explicit language, that if a stop is not put 
to his rogueries and other villainies, by fair means 
and shortly, that I will ship him off (as I did Wag- 
oner Jack) for the West Indies, where he will have 
no opportunity of playing such pranks as he is at 
present engaged in." 

It is interesting to note, in connection with this 
conclusion, that " admonition and advice" were able 
to do what " correction" sometimes failed to achieve, 
that there is not a single order to whip, and that the 
above case, and that which follows, are the only 
known cases where punishment was approved. 
**The correction you gave Ben, for his assault on 
Sambo, was just and proper. It is my earnest de- 
sire that quarrels may be stopped or punishment of 
both parties follow, unless it shall appear clearly^ 
that one only is to blame, and the other forced into 
[a quarrel] from self-defence." In one other in- 
stance Washington wrote, " If Isaac had his deserts 
he would receive a severe punishment for the house, 
tools and seasoned stuff, which has been burned 
by his carelessness." But instead of ordering the 
" deserts" he continued, ** I wish you to inform him, 

146 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

that I sustain injury enough by their idleness ; they 
need not add to it by their carelessness." 

This is the more remarkable, because his slaves 
gave him constant annoyance by their wastefulness 
and sloth and dishonesty. Thus, " Paris has grown 
to be so lazy and self-willed" that his master does 
not know what to with him ; '' Doll at the Ferry 
must be taught to knit, and made to do a sufficient 
day's work of it — otherwise (if suffered to be idle) 
many more will walk in her steps ;" ^' it is observed 
by the weekly reports, that the sewers make only 
six shirts a week, and the last week Carolina (with- 
out being sick) made only five. Mrs. Washington 
says their usual task was to make nine with shoulder 
straps and good sewing. Tell them therefore from 
me, that what has been done, shallh^ done ;" ''none 
I think call louder for [attention] than the smiths, 
who, from a variety of instances which fell within my 
own observation whilst I was at home, I take to be 
two very idle fellows. A daily account (which ought 
to be regularly) taken of their work, would alone go 
a great way towards checking their idleness." And 
the overseer was told to watch closely "the people 
who are at work with the gardener, some of whom I 
know to be as lazy and deceitful as any in the world 
(Sam particularly)." 

Furthermore, the overseers were warned to " en- 
deavor to make the Servants and Negroes take 
care of their cloathes ;" to give them *'a weekly al- 
lowance of Meat . . . because the annual one is not 
taken care of but either profusely used or stolen ;" 
and to note "the delivery to and the application of 

'47 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

nails by the carpenters, . . . [for] I cannot con- 
ceive how it is possible that 6000 twelve penny 
nails could be used in the corn house at River Plan- 
tation ; but of one thing I have no great doubt, and 
that is, if they can be applied to other uses, or con- 
verted into cash, rum or other things there will be 
no scruple in doing it." 

When robbed of some potatoes, Washington 
complained that " the deception ... is of a piece 
with other practices of a similar kind by which I 
have suffered hitherto ; and may serve to evince to 
you, in strong colors, first how Httle confidence can 
be placed in any one round you ; and secondly the 
necessity of an accurate inspection into these things 
yourself, — for to be plain, Alexandria is such a re- 
cepticle for every thing that can be filched from the 
right owners, by either blacks or whites ; and I have 
such an opinion of my negros (two or three only ex- 
cepted), and not much better of some of the whites, 
that I am perfectly sure not a single thing that can 
be disposed of at any price, at that place, that will 
not, and is not stolen, where it is possible ; and car- 
ried thither to some of the underlying keepers, who 
support themselves by this kind of traffick." He 
dared not leave wine unlocked, even for the use of 
his guests, *' because the knowledge I have of my 
servants is such, as to believe, that if opportunities 
are given them, they will take off two glasses of 
wine for every one that is drank by such visitors, 
and tell you they were used by them." And when 
he had some work to do requiring very ordinary 
qualities, he had to confess that '* I know not a negro 

148 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

among all mine, whose capacity, integrity and atten- 
tion could be relied on for such a trust as this." 

Whatever his opinion of his slaves, Washington 
was a kind master. In one case he wrote a letter 
for one of them when the '* fellow" was parted from 
his wife in the service of his master, and at another 
time he enclosed letters to a wife and to James's 
** del Toboso," for two of his servants, to save them 
postage. In reference to their rations he wrote, 
"whether this addition . . . is sufficient, I will not 
undertake to decide ; — but in most explicit language 
I desire they may have plenty ; for I will not have 
my feelings hurt with complaints of this sort, nor lye 
under the imputation of starving my negros, and 
thereby driving them to the necessity of thieving to 
supply the deficiency. To prevent waste or em- 
bezzlement is the only inducement to allowancing 
of them at all — for if, instead of a peck they could 
eat a bushel of meal a week fairly, and required it, I 
would not withhold or begrudge it them." At 
Christmas-time there are entries in his ledger for 
whiskey or rum for " the negroes," and towards the 
end of his life he ordered the overseer, " although 
others are getting out of the practice of using spirits 
at Harvest, yet, as my people have always been 
accustomed to it, a hogshead of Rum must be pur- 
chased ; but I request at the same time, that it may 
be used sparingly." 

A greater kindness of his was, in 1787, when he 
very much desired a negro mason offered for sale, 
yet directed his agent that " if he has a family, with 
which he is to be sold ; or from whom he would re- 

149 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

luctantly part, I decline the purchase ; his feelings I 
would not be the means of hurting in the latter case, 
nor at any rate be incumbered with the former." 

The kindness thus indicated bore fruit in a real 
attachment of the slaves for their master. In Hum- 
phreys's poem on Washington the poet alluded to 
the negroes at Mount Vernon in the lines, — 

"Where that foul stain of manhood, slavery, flow'd 
Through Afric's sons transmitted in the blood ; 
Hereditary slaves his kindness shar'd, 
For manumission by degrees prepar'd : 
Return 'd from war, I saw them round him press, 
And all their speechless glee by artless signs express." 

And in a foot-note the writer added, *' The interesting 
scene of his return home, at which the author was 
present, is described exactly as it existed." 

A single one of these slaves deserves further notice. 
His body-servant '* Billy" was purchased by Wash- 
ington in 1768 for sixty-eight pounds and fifteen 
shillings, and was his constant companion during the 
war, even riding after his master at reviews ; and 
this servant was so associated with the General that 
it was alleged in the preface to the ** forged letters" 
that they had been captured by the British from 
"Billy," "an old servant of General Washington's." 
When Savage painted his well-known "family group," 
this was the one slave included in the picture. In 
1784 Washington told his Philadelphia agent that 
"The mulatto fellow, William, who has been with 
me all the war, is attached (married he says) to one 
01 his own color, a free woman, who during the war, 
was also of my family. She has been in an infirm 

150 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

condition for some time, and I had conceived that 
the connexion between them had ceased ; but I am 
mistaken it seems; they are both applying to get 
her here, and tho' I never wished to see her more, I 
cannot refuse his request (if it can be compHed with 
on reasonable terms) as he has served me faithfully 
for many years. After premising this much, I have 
to beg the favor of you to procure her a passage to 
Alexandria." 

When acting as chain-bearer in 1785, while Wash- 
ington was surveying a tract of land, William fell 
and broke his knee-pan, '* which put a stop to my 
surveying ; and with much difficulty I was able to 
get him to Abington, being obliged to get a sled 
to carry him on, as he could neither walk, stand or 
ride." From this injury Lee never quite recovered, 
yet he started to accompany his master to New York 
in 1 789, only to give out on the road. He was left 
at Philadelphia, and Lear wrote to Washington's 
agent that "The President will thank you to propose 
it to Will to return to Mount Vernon when he can 
be removed for he cannot be of any semce here, and 
perhaps will require a person to attend upon him 
constantly. If he should incline to return to Mount 
Vernon, you will be so kind as to have him sent in 
the first Vessel that sails for Alexandria after he can 
be moved with safety — but if he is still anxious to 
come on here the President would gratify him, altho' 
he will be troublesome — He has been an old and 
faithful Servant, this is enough for the President to 
gratify him in every reasonable wish." 

By his will Washington gave Lee his " immediate 
15* 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

freedom or if he should prefer it (on account of the 
accidents which have befallen him and which have 
rendered him incapable of walking or of any active 
employment) to remain in the situation he now is, it 
shall be optional in him to do so — In either case 
however I allow him an annuity of thirty dollars 
during his natural life which shall be independent of 
the victuals and cloaths he has been accustomed to 
receive ; if he chuses the last alternative, but in full 
with his freedom, if he prefers the first, and this I 
give him as a testimony of my sense of his attach- 
ment to me and for his faithful services during the 
Revolutionary War." 

Two small incidents connected with Washington's 
last illness are worth noting. The afternoon before 
the night he was taken ill, although he had himself 
been superintending his affairs on horseback in the 
storm most of the day, yet when his secretary '* car- 
ried some letters to him to frank, intending to send 
them to the Post Office in the evening," Lear tells 
us "he franked the letters ; but said the weather 
was too bad to send a servant up to the office that 
evening." Lear continues, "The General's servant, 
Christopher, attended his bed side & in the room, 
when he was sitting up, through his whole illness. . . . 
In the [last] afternoon the General observing that 
Christopher had been standing by his bed side for a 
long time — made a motion for him to sit in a chair 
which stood by the bed side." 

A clause in Washington's will directed that 

" Upon the decease of my wife it is my will and desire that all the 
slaves which I hold in my own right shall receive their freedom — To 

152 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

emancipate them during her life, would, tho earnestly wished by me, 
be attended with such insuperable difficulties, on account of their 
intermixture of marriages with the Dower negroes as to excite the 
most painful sensations — if not disagreeable consequences from the 
latter, while both descriptions are in the occupancy of the same pro- 
prietor, it not being in my power under the tenure by which the 
dower Negroes are held to manumit them — And whereas among 
those who will receive freedom according to this devise there may 
be some who from old age, or bodily infirmities & others who on 
account of their infancy, that will be unable to support themselves, 
it is my will and desire that all who come under the first and second 
description shall be comfortably cloathed and fed by my heirs while 
they live and that such of the latter description as have no parents 
living, or if living are unable or unwilling to provide for them, shall 
be bound by the Court until they shall arrive at the age of twenty 
five years. . . . The negroes thus bound are (by their masters and 
mistresses) to be taught to read and write and to be brought up to 
some useful occupation." 



In this connection Washington's sentiments on 
slavery as an institution may be glanced at. As 
early as 1784 he replied to Lafayette, when told of 
a colonizing plan, **The scheme, my dear Marqs., 
which you propose as a precedent to encourage the 
emancipation of the black people of this Country 
from that state of Bondage in wch. they are held, is 
a striking evidence of the benevolence of your Heart. 
I shall be happy to join you in so laudable a work ; 
but will defer going into a detail of the business, till 
I have the pleasure of seeing you." A year later, 
when Francis Asbury was spending a day in Mount 
Vernon, the clergyman asked his host if he thought 
it wise to sign a petition for the emancipation of 
slaves. Washington replied that it would not be 
proper for him, but added, " If the Maryland Assem- 
bly discusses the matter ; I will address a letter to 

153 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

that body on the subject, as I have always approved 
of it." 

When South Carohna refused to pass an act to 
end the slave-trade, he wrote to a friend in that 
State, *' I must say that I lament the decision of 
your legislature upon the question of importing 
slaves after March 1793. I was in hopes that mo- 
tives of policy as well as other good reasons, sup- 
ported by the direful effects of slavery, which at this 
moment are presented, would have operated to pro- 
duce a total prohibition of the importation of slaves, 
whenever the question came to be agitated in any 
State, that might be interested in the measure." 
For his own State he expressed the '* wish from my 
soul that the Legislature of this State could see the 
policy of a gradual Abolition of Slavery ; it would 
prev't much future mischief" And to a Pennsyl- 
vanian he expressed the sentiment, ** I hope it will 
not be conceived from these observations, that it is 
my wish to hold the unhappy people, who are the 
subject of this letter, in slavery. I can only say, 
that there is not a man living, who wishes more 
sincerely than I do to see a plan adopted for the 
abolition of it ; but there is only one proper and 
effectual mode by which it can be accomplished, 
and that is by legislative authority ; and this, as far 
as my suffrage will go, shall never be wanting." 

Washington by no means restricted himself to 
slave servitors. Early in life he took into his service 
John Alton at thirteen pounds per annum, and this 
white man served as his body-servant in the Braddock 
campaign, and Washington found in the march that 

154 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

" A most serious inconvenience attended me in my 
sickness, and that was the losing the use of my ser- 
vant, for poor John Alton was taken about the same 
time that I was, and with nearly the same disorder, 
and was confined as long ; so that we did not see 
each other for several days." As elsewhere noticed, 
Washington succeeded to the services of Braddock's 
body-servant, Thomas Bishop, on the death of the 
general, paying the man ten pounds a year. 

These two were his servants in his trip to Boston 
in 1756, and in preparation for that journey Wash- 
ington ordered his English agent to send him '* 2 
complete livery suits for servants ; with a spare cloak 
and all other necessary trimmings for two suits more. 
I would have you choose the livery by our arms, 
only as the field of the arms is white, I think the 
clothes had better not be quite so, but nearly like 
the inclosed. The trimmings and facings of scarlet, 
and a scarlet waist coat If livery lace is not quite 
disused, I should be glad to have the cloaks laced. 
I like that fashion best, and two silver laced hats for 
the above servants." 

For some reason Bishop left his employment, but 
in 1760 Washington ''wrote to my old servant 
Bishop to return to me again if he was not otherwise 
engaged," and, the man being "very desirous of 
returning," the old relation was reassumed. Alton 
in the mean time had been promoted to be overseer 
of one of the plantations. In 1785 their master 
noted in his diary, *' Last night Jno Alton an Overseer 
of mine in the Neck — an old & faithful Servant who 
has lived with me 30 odd years dif. d — and this even- 

155 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

ing the wife of Thos. Bishop, another old Servant 
who had Hved with me 'an equal number of years 
also died." Both were remembered in his will by a 
clause giving "To Sarah Green daughter of the 
deceased Thomas Bishop, and to Ann Walker, 
daughter of John Alton, also deceased I give each 
one hundred dollars, in consideration of the attach- 
ment of their father[s] to me, each of whom having 
lived nearly forty years in my family." 

Of Washington's general treatment of the serving 
class a few facts can be gleaned. He told one of 
his overseers, in reference to the sub-overseers, that 
" to treat them civilly is no more than what all men 
are entitled to, but my advice to you is, to keep them 
at a proper distance ; for they will grow upon famil- 
iarity, in proportion as you will sink in authority if 
you do not." To a housekeeper he promised "a 
warm, decent and comfortable room to herself, to 
lodge in, and will eat of the victuals of our Table, 
but not set at it, or at any time with us be her 
appearance what it may ; for if this was once admitted 
no line satisfactory to either party, perhaps could be 
drawn thereafter." 

In visiting he feed liberally, good examples of 
which are given in the cash account of the visit to 
Boston in 1756, when he "Gave to Servants on ye 
Road 10/." "By Cash Mr. Malbones servants 
^4.0.0." "The Chambermaid £1.2.6.'' When the 
wife of his old steward, Fraunces, came to need, he 
gave her ** for Charity ^ 1. 17.6." The majority will 
sympathize rather than disapprove of his opinion 
when he wrote, " Workmen in most Countries I be- 

i56 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

lieve are necessary plagues ; — in this where entreaties 
as well as money must be used to obtain their work 
and keep them to their duty they baffle all calcula- 
tion in the accomplishment of any plan or repairs 
they are engaged in ; — and require more attention 
to and looking after than can be well conceived." 

The overseers of his many plantations, and his 
"master" carpenters, millers, and gardeners, were 
quite as great trials as his slaves. First ** young 
Stephens" gave him much trouble, which his diary 
reports in a number of sententious entries : '* visited 
my Plantation. Severely reprimanded young Ste- 
phens for his Indolence, and his father for suffering 
it;" ''forbid Stephens keeping any horses upon my 
expence ;" " visited my quarters & ye Mill, according 
to custom found young Stephens absent;" "visited 
my Plantation and found to my great surprise Ste- 
phens constantly at work ;" " rid out to my Plantn. 
and to my Carpenters. Found Richard Stephens 
hard at work with an ax — Very extraordinary this !" 

Again he records, "Visited my Plantations — found 
Foster had been absent from his charge since the 
28th ulto. Left orders for him to come immediately 
to me upon his return, and repremanded him 
severely." Of another, Simpson, "I never hear . . . 
without a degree of warmth & vexation at his ex- 
treme stupidity," and elsewhere he expresses his 
disgust at "that confounded fellow Simpson." A 
third spent all the fall and half the winter in getting 
in his crop, and " if there was any way of making 
such a rascal as Garner pay for such conduct, no 
punishment would be too great for him. I suppose 

157 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

he never turned out of mornings until the sun had 
warmed the earth, and if Jie did not, the negro. 
would not." His chief overseer was directed tc 
" Let Mr. Crow know that I view with a very evil 
eye the frequent reports made by him of sheep dy- 
ing ; . . . frequent natural deaths is a very strong 
evidence to my mind of the want of care or some- 
thing worse." 

Curious distinctions were made oftentimes. Thus, 
in the contract with an overseer, one clause was in- 
serted to the effect, '* And whereas there are a num.- 
ber of whiskey stills very contiguous to the said Plan- 
tations, and many idle, drunken and dissolute People 
continually resorting to the same, priding themselves 
in debauching sober and well-inclined Persons, the 
said Edd Voilett doth promise as well for his own 
sake as his employers to avoid them as he ought." 
To the contrary, in hiring a gardener, it was agreed 
as part of the compensation that the man should 
have "four dollars at Christmas, with which he may 
be drufk for four days and four nights ; two dollars 
at Easter to effect the same purpose ; two dollars at 
Whitsuntide to be drunk for two days ; a dram in the 
morning, and a drink of grog at dinner at noon." 

With more true kindness Washington wrote to 
one of his underlings, ** I was very glad to receive 
your letter of the 31st ultimo, because I was afraid, 
from the accounts given me of your spitting blood, 
. . . that you would hardly have been able to have 
written at all. And it is my request that you will 
not, by attempting more than you are able to 
undergo, with safety and convenience, injure your- 

«5S 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

self, and thereby render me a disservice. ... I had 
rather therefore hear that you had nursed than ex- 
posed yourself And the things which I sent from 
this place (I mean the wine, tea, coffee and sugar) 
and such other matters as you may lay in by the 
doctor's direction for the use of the sick, I desire 
you will make use of as your own personal occasions 
may require." 

Of one Butler he had employed to overlook his 
gardeners, but who proved hopelessly unfit, Wash- 
ington said, "sure I am, there is no obligation upon 
me to retain him from charitable motives ; when he 
ought rather to be punished as an imposter : for he 
well knew the services he had to perform, and which 
he promised to fulfil with zeal, activity, and intelli- 
gence." Yet when the man was discharged his em- 
ployer gave him a ** character :" "If his activity, 
spirit, and ability in the management of Negroes, 
were equal to his honesty, sobriety and industry, 
there would not be the least occasion for a change,'' 
and Butler was paid his full wages, no eduction 
being made for lost time, " as I can better afford to 
be without the money than he can." 

Another thoroughly incompetent man was one 
employed to take charge of the negro carpenters, of 
whom his employer wrote, " I am apprehensive . . . 
that Green never will overcome his propensity lo 
drink ; that it is this which occasions his frequent 
sickness, absences from work and poverty. And 1 
am convinced, moreover, that it answers no purpose 
to admonish him." Yet, though " I am so well satis- 
fied of Thomas Green's unfitness to look after Car- 

159 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

• 
penters," for a time " the helpless situation in which 
you find his family, has prevailed on me to retain 
him," and when he finally had to be discharged for 
drinking, Washington said, " Nothing but compassion 
for his helpless family, has hitherto induced me to 
keep him a moment in my service (so bad is the 
example he sets) ; but if he has no regard for them 
himself, it is not to be expected that I am to be a 
continual sufferer on this account for his misconduct." 
His successor needed the house the family lived in, 
but Washington could not " bear the thouglit of add- 
ing to the distress I know they must be in, by turn- 
ing them adrift ; ... It would be better therefore 
on all accounts if they were removed to some other 
place, even if I was to pay the rent, provided it was 
low, or make some allowance towards it." 

To many others, besides family, friends, and em- 
ployees, Washington was charitable. From an early 
date his ledger contains frequent items covering gifts 
to the needy. To mention a tenth of them would 
take too much space, but a few typical entries are 
worth quoting : 

*'By Cash gave a Soldiers wife 5/;" *'To a crippled man 5/;" 
"Gave a man who had his House Burnt ;^i. ;" "By a begging 
woman /5 ;" "By Cash gave for the Sufferers at Boston by fire 
;^I2 ;" " By a wounded soldier 10/ ;" " Alexandria Academy, support 
of a teacher of Orphan children ;,^5o ;" "By Charity to an invalid 
wounded Soldier who came from Redston with a petition for Charity 
18/;" " Gave a poor man by the President's order ^2;" " Delivd 
to the President to send to two distress'd french women at Newcastle 
^25 ;" " Gave Pothe a poor old man by the President's order $2 ;" 
" Gave a poor sailor by the Presdt order $1 ;" " Gave a poor blind 
man by the Presdt order $1.50 ;" " By Madame de Seguer a french 
Lady in distress gave her ^50 j" "By Subscription paid to Mr. Jas. 

160 



MASTER AND EMPLOYER 

Blythe towards erecting and SujDporting an Academy in the State of 
Kentucky $ioo ;" "By Subscription towards an Academy in the 
South Western Territory' ^loo ;" "By Charity sent Genl Charles 
Pinckney in Columbus Bank Notes, for the sufferers by the fire in 
Charleston So. Carolina $300;" "By Charity gave to the sufferers 
by fire in Geo. Town 3^0 ;" "By an annual Donation to the 
Academy at Alexandria pd. Dr. Cook $166.67;" "By Charity to 
the poor of Alexandria deld. to the revd. Dr. Muir $100." 

To an overseer he said, concerning a distant rela- 
tive, " Mrs. Haney should endeavor to do what she 
can for herself — this is a duty incumbent on every 
one ; but you must not let her suffer, as she has 
thrown herself upon me ; your advances on this 
account will be allowed always, at settlement ; and I 
agree readily to furnish her with provisions, and for 
the good character you give of her daughter make 
the latter a present in my name of a handsome but 
not costly gown, and other things which she may 
stand most in need of You may charge me also 
with the worth of your tenement in which she is 
placed, and where perhaps it is better she should be 
than at a great distance from your attentions to her." 

After the terrible attack of fever in Philadelphia 
in 1793, Washington wrote to a clerg>^man of that 
city,— 

" It has been my intention ever since my return to the city, to 
contribute my mite towards the relief of the most needy inhabitants 
of it. The pressure of public business hitherto has suspended, but 
not altered my resolution. I am at a loss, however, for whose 
benefit to apply the little I can give, and in whose hands to place it ; 
whether for the use of the fatherless children and widows, made so 
by the late calamit}-, who may find it difficult, whilst provisions, wood, 
and other necessaries are so dear, to support themselves ; or to other 
and better purposes, if any, I know not, and therefore have taken 
the liberty of asking your advice. I persuade myself justice will be 
II i6i 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

done to ray motives for giving you this trouble. To obtain informa- 
tion, a:\d to render the little I can afford, without ostentation or 
mention of ray name, are the sole objects of these inquiries. With 
great and sincere esteem and regard, I am, &c." 

His adopted grandson he advised to ** never let an 
indigent person ask, without receiving something if 
you have the means ; always recollecting in what 
light the widow's mite was viewed." And when he 
took command of the army in 1775, the relative 
who took charge of his affairs was told to " let the 
hospitality of the house, with respect to the poor, be 
kept up. Let no one go hungry away. If any of 
this kind of people should be in want of corn, sup- 
ply their necessities, provided it does not encourage 
them in idleness ; and I have no objection to your 
giving my money in charity, to the amount of forty 
or fifty pounds a year, when you think it well be- 
stowed. What I mean by having no objection is, 
that it is my desire that it should be done. You are 
to consider, that neither myself nor wife is now in 
the way to do these good offices." 



VII 

SOCIAL LIFE 

There can be no doubt that Washington, like the 
Virginian of his time^ was pre-eminently social. It is 
true that late ^in life he complained, as already 
quoted, that his home had become a ''well resorted 
tavern," and that at his own table " I rarely miss 
seeing strange faces, come as they say out of respect 
for me. Pray, would not the word curiosity answer 
as well?" but even in writing this he added, "how 
different this from having; a few social friends at a 
cheerful board !" When a surveyor he said that the 
greatest pleasure he could have would be to hear from 
or be with " my Intimate friends and acquaintances ;" 
to one he wrote, " I hope you in particular will not 
Bauk me of what I so ardently wish for," and he 
groaned over being ** amongst a parcel of barbarians." 
While in the Virginia regiment he complained of a 
system of rations which " deprived me of the pleas- 
ure of inviting an officer or friend, which to me 
would be more agreeable, than nick-nacks I shall 
meet with," and when he was once refused leave of 
absence by the governor, he replied bitterly, " it was 
not to enjoy a party of pleasure I wanted a leave of 
absence ; I have been indulged with few of these, 
winter or summer !" At Mount Vernon, if a day 
was spent without company the fact was almost 

163 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

always nolcd in his diary, and in a visit, too, he noted 
that he had " a very lonesome Evening at Colo 
Champe's, not any Body favoring us with their Com- 
pany but himself." 

The plantation system which prevented town life 
and put long distances between neighbors developed 
two forms of society. One of these was house par- 
ties, and probably nowhere else in the world was 
that form of hospitality so unstinted as in this colony. 
Any one of a certain social standing was privileged, 
even welcomed, to ride up to the seat of a planter, 
dismount, and thus become a guest, ceasing to be 
such only when he himself chose. Sometimes one 
family would go en masse many miles to stay a week 
with friends, and when they set out to return their 
hosts would journey with them and in turn become 
euests for a week. The second form of social life 

o 

was called clubs. At all the cross-roads and court- 
houses there sprang up taverns or ordinaries, and 
in these the men of a neighborhood would gather, 
and over a bowl of punch or a bottle of wine, the 
expense of which they "clubbed" to share, would 
spend their evenings. 

Into this life Washington entered eagerly. As a 
mere lad his ledger records expenditures : " By a 
club in Arrack at Mr. Gordon's 2/6;" "Club of a 
bottle of Rhenish at Mitchells 1/3 ;" "To part of the 
club at Port Royal 1/ ;" "To Cash in part for a Bowl 
of fruit punch 1/7)^." So, too, he was a visitor at 
this time at some of the great Virginian houses, as 
elsewhere noted. When he came into possession of 
Mount Vernon he offered the same unstinted wel- 

164 



SOCIAL LIFE 

come that he had met with, and even as a bachelor 
he writes of iiis "having much company," and again 
of being occupied with " a good deal of Company." 
In two months of i 'jdZ Washington had company to 
dinner, or to spend the night, on tv/enty-nine days, 
and dined or visited away from home on seven ; and 
this is typical. 

Whenever, too, trips were made to Williamsburg, 
Annapolis, Philadelphia, or elsewhere, it was a rare 
occurrence when the various stages of the journey 
were not spent with friends, and in those cities he 
was dined and wined to a surfeit. 

During the Revolution all of Washington's aides 
and his secretary lived with him at head-quarters, and 
constituted what he always called "my family." In 
addition, many others sat down at table, — those who 
came on business from a distance, as well as bidden 
guests, — which frequently included ladies from the 
neighborhood, who must have been belles among the 
sixteen to twenty men who customarily sat down to 
dinner. " If . . . convenient and agreeable to you 
to take pot luck with me today," the General wrote 
John Adams in 1776, "I shall be glad of your com- 
pany." Pot luck it was for commander-in-chief and 
staff Mention has been made of how sometimes 
Washington slept on the ground, and even when 
under cover there was not occasionally much more 
comfort. Pickering relates that one night was passed 
in " Headquarters at Galloway's, an old log house. 
The General lodged in a bed, and his family on the 
floor about him. We had plenty of sepawn and 
milk, and all were contented." 

it)5 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Oftentimes there were difficulties in the hospitahty. 
"I have been at my prest quarters since the 1st day 
of Deer.," Washington complained to the commis- 
sary-general, " and have not a Kitchen to cook a 
Dinner in, altho' the Logs have been put together 
some considerable time by my own Guard. Nor is 
there a place at this moment in which a servant can 
lodge, with the smallest degree of comfort. Eighteen 
belonging to my family, and all Mrs. Ford's, are 
crowded together in her Kitchen, and scarce one of 
them able to speak for the cold they have caught." 
Pickering, in telling how he tried to secure lodgings 
away from head-quarters, gave for his reasons that 
** they are exceedingly pinched for room. . . . Had 
I conceived how much satisfaction, quiet and even 
leisure, I should have enjoyed at separate quarters, I 
would have taken them six months ago. For at 
head-quarters there is a continual throng, and my 
room, in particular, (when I was happy enough to 
get one,) was always crowded by all that came to 
headquarters on business, because there was no other 
for them, we having, for the most part, been in such 
small houses." 

There were other difficulties. " I cannot get as 
much cloth," the general wrote, *' as will make cloaths 
for my servants, notwithstanding one of them that 
attends my person and table is indecently and most 
shamefully naked." One of his aides said to a cor- 
respondent, jocularly, "■ I take your Caution to me 
in Regard to my Health very kindly, but I assure 
you, you need be under no Apprehension of my 
losing it on the Score of Excess of living, that Wicq 

1 66 



SOCIAL LIFE 

is banished from this Army and the General's Family 
in particular. We never sup, but go to bed and are 
early up." "Only conceive,'.' Washington complained 
to Congress, ** the mortification they (even the general 
officers) must suffer, when they cannot invite a French 
officer, a visiting friend, or a travelling acquaintance, 
to a better repast, than stinking whiskey (and not 
always that) and a bit of Beef without vegetables." 

At times, too, it was necessary to be an exemplar. 
'' Our truly repubHcan general," said Laurens, ** has 
declared to his officers that he will set the example 
of passing the winter in a hut himself," and John 
Adams, in a time of famine, declared that " General 
Washington sets a fine example. He has banished 
wine from his table, and entertains his friends with 
rum and water." 

Whenever it was possible, however, there was 
company at head- quarters. "Since the General left 
Germantown in the middle of September last," the 
General Orders once read, "he has been without his 
baggage, and on that account is unable to receive 
company in the manner he could wish. He never- 
theless desires the Generals, Field Officers and Bri- 
gades Major of the day, to dine with him in future, 
at three o'clock in the afternoon." Again the same 
vehicle informed the army that " the hurry of busi- 
ness often preventing particular invitations being given 
to officers to dine with the General ; He presents 
his compliments to the Brigadiers and Field Officers 
of the day, and requests while the Camp continues 
settled in the City, they will favor him with their com- 
pany to dinner, without further or special invitation." 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

• 

Mrs. Drinker, who went with a committee of women 
to camp at Valley Forge, has left a brief description 
of head-quarters hospitality : " Dinner was served, 
to which he invited us. There were 1 5 Officers, be- 
sides ye Gl. and his wife, Gen. Greene, and Gen. 
Lee. We had an elegant dinner, which was soon 
over, when we went out with ye Genls wife, up to 
her Chamber — and saw no more of him." Claude 
Blanchard, too, describes a dinner, at which " there 
was twenty-five covers used by some officers of the 
army and a lady to whom the house belonged in 
which the general lodged. We dined under the 
tent. I was placed along side of the general. One 
of his aides-de-camp did the honors. The table was 
served in the American style and pretty abundantly ; 
vegetables, roast beef, lamb, chickens, salad dressed 
with nothing but vinegar, green peas, puddings, and 
some pie, a kind of tart, greatly in use in England 
and among the Americans, all this being put upon 
the table at the same time. They gave us on the 
same plate beef, green peas, lamb, &c." 

Nor was the menage of the General unequal to 
unexpected calls. Chastellux tells of his first arrival 
in camp and introduction to Washington : ** He con- 
ducted me to his house, where I found the company 
still at table, although the dinner had been long over. 
He presented me to the Generals Knox, Waine, 
Howe, &c. and to his family^ then composed of 
Colonels Hamilton and Tilgman, his Secretaries and 
his Aides de Camp, and of Major Gibbs, commander 
of his guards ; for in England and America, the 
Aides de Camp, Adjutants and other officers attached 

168 



SOCIAL LIFE 

to the General, form what is called his family. A 
fresh dinner was prepared for me and mine ; and the 
present was prolonged to keep me company." "At 
nine," he elsewhere writes, "supper v/as served, and 
when the hour of bed-time came, I found that the 
chamber, to which the General conducted me was 
the very parlour I speak of, wherein he had made 
them place a camp-bed." Of his hospitality Wash- 
ington himself wrote, — 

,*' I have asked Mrs. Cochran & Mrs. Livingston to dine with me 
to-morrovt^ ; but am I not in honor bound to apprize them of their 
fate ? As I hate deception, even where the imagination only is con- 
cerned ; I will. It is needless to premise, that my table is large 
enough to hold the ladies. Of this they had ocular proof yesterday. 
To say how it is usually covered, is rather more essential ; and this 
shall be the purport of my Letter. 

" Since our arrival at this happy spot, we have had a ham, (some- 
times a shoulder) of Bacon, to grace the head of the Table ; a 
piece of roast Beef adorns the foot ; a dish of beans, or greens, (al- 
most imperceptible,) decorates the center. When the cook has a 
mind to cut a figure, (which, I presume will be the case tomorrow) 
we have two Beef-steak pyes, or dishes of crabs, in addition, one on 
each side of the center dish, dividing the space & reducing the dis- 
tance between dish & dish to about 6 feet, which without them would 
be near I2 feet apart. Of late he has had the surprising sagacity to 
discover, that apples will make pyes ; and its a question, if, in the 
violence of his efforts, we do not get one of apples, instead of having 
both of Beef-steaks. If the ladies can put up with such entertain- 
ment, and will submit to partake of it in plates, once Tin but now 
Iron — (not become so by the labor of scouring), I shall be happy to 
see them." 

Dinners were not the only form of entertaining. 
In Cambridge, when Mrs. Washington and Mrs. 
Jack Custis were at head-quarters, a reception was 
held on the anniversary of Washington's ' marriage, 
and at other times when there was anything to cele- 

169 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

brate, — the capitulation of Burgoyne, the alhance 
with France, the birth of a dauphin, etc., — parades, 
balls, receptions, " feux-de-joie," or cold collations 
were given. Perhaps the most ambitious attempt 
was a dinner given on September 21, 1782, in a 
large tent, to which ninety sat down, while a " band 
of American music" added to the ''gaiety of the 
company." 

Whenever occasion called the General to attend 
on Congress there was much junketing. " My time," 
he wrote, " during my winter's residence in Philadel- 
phia, was unusually (for me) divided between parties 
of pleasure and parties of business." When Reed 
pressed him to pass the period of winter quarters in 
visiting him in Philadelphia, he replied, *'were I to 
give in to private conveniency and amusement, I 
should not be able to resist the invitation of my 
friends to make Philadelphia, instead of a squeezed 
up room or two, my quarters for the winter." 

While President, a more elaborate hospitality was 
maintained. Both in New York and Philadelphia 
the best houses procurable were rented as the Presi- 
dential home, — for Washington "wholly declined 
living in any public building," — and a steward and 
fourteen lower servants attended to all details, though 
a watchful supervision was kept by the President 
over them, and in the midst of his public duties he 
found time to keep a minute account of the daily 
use of all supplies, with their cost. His payments 
to his stewards for mere servants' wages and food 
(exclusive of wine) were over six hundred dollars a 
month, and there can be little doubt that Washing- 

170 



SOCIAL LIFE 

ton, who had no expense paid by the public, more 
than spent his salary during his term of office. 

It was the President's custom to give a pubHc din- 
ner once a week '* to as many as my table will hold," 
and there was also a bi-weekly levee, to which any one 
might come, as well as evening receptions by Mrs. 
Washington, which were more distinctly social and 
far more exclusive. Ashbel Green states that ** Wash- 
ington's dining parties were entertained in a very 
handsome style. His weekly dining day for company 
was Thursday, and his dining hour was always four 
o'clock in the afternoon. His rule was to allow five 
minutes for the variations of clocks and watches, 
and then go to the table, be present or absent, who- 
ever might. He kept his own clock in the hall, just 
within the outward door, and always exactly regu- 
lated. When lagging members of Congress came 
in, as they often did, after the guests had sat down 
to dinner, the president's only apology was, * Gen- 
tlemen (or sir) we are too punctual for you. I 
have a cook who never asks whether the company 
has come, but whether the hour has come.' The 
company usually assembled in the drawing-room, 
about fifteen or twenty minutes before dinner, and 
the president spoke to every guest personally on 
entering the room." 

Maclay attended several of the dinners, and has 
left descriptions of them. " Dined this day with 
the President," he writes. ** It was a great dinner — - 
all in the tastes of high life. I considered it as a 
part of my duty as a Senator to submit to it, and 
am glad it is over. The President is a cold, formal 

171 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

man ; but I must declare that he treated me with 
great attention. I was the first person with whom 
he drank a glass of wine. I was often spoken to by 
him." Again he says, — 

*' At dinner, after my second plate had been taken away, the Presi- 
dent offered to help me to part of a dish which stood before him. 
Was ever anything so unlucky? I had just before declined being 
helped to anything more, with some expression that denoted my 
having made up my dinner. Had, of course, for the sake of con- 
sistency, to thank him negatively, but when the dessert came, and 
he was distributing a pudding, he gave me a look of interrogation, 
and I returned the thanks positive. He soon after asked me to 
drink a glass of wine with him." On another occasion he "went 
to the President's to dinner, . . . The President and Mrs. Wash- 
ington sat opposite each other in the middle of the table ; the two 
secretaries, one at each end. It was a great dinner, and the best 
of the kind I ever was at. The room, however, was disagreeably 
warm. First the soup ; fish roasted and boiled ; meats, sammon, 
fowls, etc. . . . The middle of the table was garnished in the usual 
tasty way, with small images, flowers, (artificial), etc. The dessert 
was, apple pies, pudding, etc. ; then iced creams, jellies, etc. ; then 
water-melons, musk-melons, apples, peaches, nuts. It was the most 
solemn dinner I ever was at. Not a health drank ; scarce a word was 
said until the cloth was taken away. Then the President filling a 
glass of wine, with great formality drank to the health of every in- 
dividual by name round the table. Everybody imitated him, charged 
glasses, and such a buzz of 'health, sir,' and 'health, madam,' and 
* thank you, sir,' and ' thank you, madam,' never had I heard before, 
. . . The ladies sat a good while, and the bottles passed about ; but 
there was a dead silence almost. Mrs. Washington at last withdrew 
with the ladies. I expected the men would now begin, but the same 
stillness remained. The President told of a New England clergyman 
who had lost a hat and wig in passing a river called the Brunks. He 
smiled, and everybody else laughed. He now and then said a sentence 
or two on some common subject, and what he said was not amiss. . , . 
The President , , . played with the fork, striking on the edge of 
the table with it. We did not sit long after the ladies retired. The 
President rose, went up-stairs to drink coffee ; the company followed. " 

Bradbury gives the menu of a dinner at which he 
172 



§ 






<>^ 




SOCIAL LIFE 

was, where "there was an elegant variety of roast 
beef, veal, turkey, ducks, fowls, hams, &c. ; pud- 
dings, jellies, oranges, apples, nuts, almonds, figs, 
raisins, and a variety of wines and punch. We 
took our leave at six, more than an hour after the 
candles were introduced. No lady but Mrs. Wash- 
ington dined with us. We were waited on by four 
or five men servants dressed in livery." At the last 
official dinner the President gave, Bishop White was 
present, and relates that "to this dinner as many 
were invited as could be accommodated at the Presi- 
dent's table. . . . Much hilarity prevailed ; but on 
the removal of the cloth it was put an end to by the 
President — certainly without design. Having filled 
his glass, he addressed the company, with a smile 
on his countenance, saying : ' Ladies and gentlemen, 
this is the last time I shall drink your health, as a 
public man. I do it with sincerity, and wishing you 
all possible happiness.' There was an end of all 
pleasantry." 

A glance at Mrs. Washington's receptions has 
been given, but the levees of the President re- 
main to be described. William Sullivan, who at- 
tended many, wrote, — 

*' At three o'clock or at any time within a quarter of an hour after- 
ward, the visitor was conducted to this dining room, from which all 
seats had been removed for the time. On entering, he saw" Wash- 
ington, who "stood always in front of the fire-place, with his face 
towards the door of entrance. The visitor was conducted to him, 
and he required to have the name so distinctly pronounced that he 
could hear it. He had the very uncommon faculty of associating a 
man's name, and personal appearance, so durably in his memory, 
as to be able to call one by name, who made him a second visit. 
He received his visitor with a dignified bow, while his hands were 

173 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

so disposed of as to indicate, that the salutation was not to be ac- 
companied with shaking hands. This ceremony never occurred in 
these visits, even with his most near friends, that no distinction might 
be made. As visitors came in, they formed a circle round the room. 
At a quarter past three, the door was closed, and the circle was 
formed for that day. He then began on the right, and spoke to each 
visitor, calling him by name, and exchanging a few words with him. 
When he had completed his circuit, he resumed his first position, 
and the visitors approached him in succession, bowed and retired. 
By four o'clock the ceremony was over." 

The ceremony of the dinners and levees and the 
liveried servants were favorite impeachments of the 
President among the early Democrats before they 
had better material, and Washington was charged 
with trying to constitute a court, and with conduct- 
ing himself like a king. Even his bow was a source 
of criticism, and Washington wrote in no litde irri- 
tation in regard to this, " that I have not been able 
to make bows to the taste of poor Colonel Bland, 
(who, by the by, I believe, never saw one of them), 
is to be regretted, especially too, as (upon those 
occasions), they were indiscriminately bestowed, and 
the best I was master of, would it not have been 
better to throw the veil of charity over them, as- 
cribing their stiffness to the effects of age, or to the 
unskillfulness of my teacher, than to pride and 
dignity of office, which God knows has no charms 
for me ? For I can truly say, I had rather be at 
Mount Vernon with a friend or two about me, than 
to be attended at the seat of government by the 
officers of state, and the representatives of every 
gower in Europe." 

There can be no doubt that Washington hated 
ceremony as much as the Democrats, and yielded 

174 



SOCIAL LIFE 

to it only from his sense of fitness and the opinions 
of those about him. Jefferson . and Madison both 
relate how such unnecessary form was used at the 
first levee by the master of ceremonies as to make 
it ridiculous, and Washington, appreciating this, is 
quoted as saying to the amateur chamberlain, ** Well, 
you have taken me in once, but, by God, you shall 
never take me in a second time." His secretary, 
in writing to secure lodgings in Philadelphia, when 
the President and family were on their way to Mount 
Vernon, said, "1 must repeat, what I observed in a 
former letter, that as little ceremony & parade may 
be made as possible, for the President wishes to 
command his own time, which these things always 
forbid in a greater or less degree, and they are to 
him fatiguing and oftentimes painful. He wishes 
not to exclude himself from the sight or conversation 
of his fellow citizens, but their eagerness to show 
their affection frequently imposes a heavy tax on 
him." 

This was still further shown in his diary of his 
tours through New England and the Southern States. 
Nothing would do but for Boston to receive him with 
troops, etc., and Washington noted, *' finding this 
ceremony not to be avoided, though I had made 
every effort to do it, I named the hour." In leaving 
Portsmouth he went ** quietly, and without any at- 
tendance, having earnestly entreated that all parade 
and ceremony might be avoided on my return." 
When travelling through North Carolina, "a small 
party of horse under one Simpson met us at Green- 
ville, and in spite of every endeavor which could 

175 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

comport with decent civility, to excuse myself from 
it, they would attend me to Newburn." 

During the few years that Washington was at 
Mount Vernon subsequent to the Revolution, the 
same unbounded hospitality was dispensed as in 
earlier times, while a far greater demand was made 
upon it, and one so variegated that at times the host 
was not a little embarrassed. Thus he notes that 
" a Gentleman calling himself the Count de Cheiza 
D'Artigan Officer of the French Guards came here 
to dinner ; but bringing no letters of introduction, 
nor any authentic testimonials of his being either ; I 
WcLS at a loss how to receive or treat him, — he stayed 
to dinner and the evening," and the next day departed 
in Washington's carriage to Alexandria. ** A farmer 
came here to see," he says, **my drill plow, and staid 
all night." In another instance he records that a 
woman whose ** name was unknown to me dined 
here." Only once were visitors frowned on, and 
this was when a British marauding party came to 
Mount Vernon during the Revolution. Even they, 
_ in Washington's absence, were entertained by his 
overseer, but his master wrote him, on hearing of 
this, " I am little sony of my own [loss] ; but that 
which gives me most concern is, that you should go 
on board the enemy's vessels and furnish them with 
refreshments. It would have been a less painful 
circumstance to me to have heard, that in conse- 
quence of your non-compliance with their request, 
they had burnt my House and laid the plantation in 
ruins. You ought to have considered yourself as 
my representative, and should have reflected on the 

176 



SOCIAL LIFE 

bad example of communicating with the enemy, and 
making a voluntary offer of refreshments to them 
with a view to prevent a conflagration." 

The hospitality at Mount Vernon was perfectly 
simple. A traveller relates that he was taken there 
by a friend, and, as Washington was "viewing his 
laborers," we **were desired to tarry." "When the 
President returned he received us very politely. Dr. 
Croker introduced me to him as a gentleman from 
Massachusetts who wished to see the country and 
pay his respects. He thanked us, desired us to be 
seated, and to excuse him a few moments. . . . The. 
President came and desired us to walk in to dinner 
and directed us where to sit, (no grace was said). . . . 
The dinner was very good, a small roasted pigg, 
boiled leg of lamb, roasted fowles, ho^i, peas, lettice, 
cucumbers, artichokes, etc., puddings, tarts, etc., etc. 
We were desired to call for what dnnk we chose. 
He took a glass of wine with Mrs. Law first, which 
example was followed by Dr. Croker and Mrs. Wash- 
ington, myself and Mrs. Peters, Mr. Fayette and the 
young lady whose name is Custis. When the cloth 
was taken away the President gave 'All our Friends.' " 

Another visitor tells that he was received by 
Washington, and, "after . . . half an hour, the 
General came in again, with his hair neatly pow- 
dered, a clean shirt on, a new plain drab coat, white 
waistcoat and white silk stockings. At three, dinner 
was on the table, and we were shown by the General 
into another room, where everything was set off with 
a peculiar taste and at the same time neat and plain. 
The General sent the bottle about pretty freely after 

12 177 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

dinner, and gave success to the navigation of the 
Potomac for his toasts, which he has very much at 
heart. . . . After Tea General Washington retired 
to his study and left us with the . . . rest of the 
Company. If he had not been anxious to hear the 
news of Congress from Mr. Lee, most probably he 
would not have returned to supper, but gone to bed 
at his usual hour, nine o'clock, for he seldom makes 
any ceremony. We had a very elegant supper about 
that time. The General with a few glasses of cham- 
pagne got quite merry, and being with his intimate 
friends laughed and talked a good deal. Before 
strangers he is very reserved, and seldom says a 
word. I was fortunate in being in his company with 
his particular acquaintances. . . . At 12 I had the 
honor of being lighted up to my bedroom by the 
General himself" 

This break on the evening hours was quite unusual, 
Washington himself saying in one place that nine 
o'clock was his bedtime, and he wrote of his hours 
after dinner, " the usual time of setting at table, a 
walk, and tea, brings me within the dawn of candle- 
light ; previous to which, if not prevented by com- 
pany I resolve, that as soon as the glimmering taper 
supplies the place of the great luminary, I will retire 
to my writing table and acknowledge the letters I 
have received ; but when the lights were brought, I 
feel tired and disinclined to engage in this work, 
conceiving that the next night will do as well. The 
next comes, and with it the same causes for post- 
ponement, and effect, and so on." 

The foregoing allusion to Washington's conver- 
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SOCIAL LIFE 

sation is undoubtedly just. All who met him for- 
mally spoke of him as taciturn, but this was not a 
natural quality. Jefferson states that ''in the circle 
of his friends, where he might be unreserved with 
safety, he took a free share in conversation," and 
Madison told Sparks that, though ''Washington was 
not fluent nor ready in conversation, and was in- 
clined to be taciturn in general society," yet ''in 
the company of two or three intimate friends, he 
was talkative, and when a little excited was some- 
times fluent and even eloquent." "The story so 
often repeated of his never laughing," Madison said, 
was " wholly untrue ; no man seemed more to enjoy 
gay conversation, though he took little part in it 
himself He was particularly pleased with the jokes, 
good humor, and hilarity of his companions." 

Washington certainly did enjoy a joke. Nelly 
Custis said, " I have sometimes made him laugh 
most heartily from sympathy with my joyous and 
extravagant spirits," and many other instances of 
his laughing are recorded. He himself wrote in 
1775 concerning the running away of some British 
soldiers, " we laugh at his idea of chasing the Royal 
Fusileers with the stores. Does he consider them as 
inanimate, or as treasure?" When the British in 
Boston sent out a bundle of the king's speech, 
" farcical enough, we gave great joy to them, (the 
red coats I mean), without knowing or intending it ; 
for on that day, the day which gave being to the 
new army, (but before the proclamation came to 
hand,) we had hoisted the union flag in compliment 
to the United Colonies. But, behold, it was received 
, 179 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

in Boston as a token of the deep impression the 
speech had made upon us, and as a signal of sub- 
mission/' 

At times Washington would joke himself, though 
it was always somewhat labored, as in the case of 
the Jack already cited. ** Without a coinage," he 
wrote, *' or unless a stop can be put to the cutting 
and clipping of money, our dollars, pistareens, &c., 
will be converted, as Teague says, 'm\.o five quarters." 
When the Democrats were charging the Federalists 
with having stolen from the treasury, he wrote to a 
Cabinet official, '* and pray, my good sir, what part 
of the ^800.000 have come to your share ? As you 
are high in Office, I hope you did not disgrace your- 
self in the acceptance of a paltry bribe — a ;^ 100. 000 
perhaps." He once even attempted a pun, by writ- 
ing, *' our enterprise will be ruined, and we shall be 
stopped at the Laurel Hill this winter ; but not to 
gather laurels, (except of the kind that covers the 
mountains)." 

Probably the neatest turn was his course on one 
occasion with General Tryon, who sent him some 
British proclamations with the request, ** that through 
your means, the officers and men under your com- 
mand may be acquainted with their contents." 
Washington promptly replied that he had given them 
"free currency among the officers and men under 
my command," and enclosed to Tryon a lot of the 
counter-proclamation, asking him to "be instrumental 
in communicating its contents, so far as it may be in 
your power, to the persons who are the objects of its 
operation. The benevolent purpose it is intended to 

i8o 



SOCIAL LIFE 

answer will I persuade myself, sufficiently recommend 
it to your candor." 

To a poetess who had sent him some laudatory 
verses about himself he expressed his thanks, and 
added, " Fiction is to be sure the very life and Soul 
of Poetry — all Poets and Poetesses have been in- 
dulged in the free and indisputable use of it, time 
out of mind. And to oblige you to make such an 
excellent Poem on- such a subject without any ma 
terials but those of simple reality, would be as cruel 
as the Edict of Pharoah which compelled the chil- 
dren of Israel to manufacture Bricks without the 
necessary Ingredients." 

Twice he joked about his own death. *^As I have 
heard," he said after Braddock's defeat, ** since my 
arrival at this place, a circumstancial account of my 
death and dying speech, I take this early opportunity 
of contradicting the first, and of assuring you, that I 
have not as yet composed the latter." Many years 
later, in draughting a letter for his wife, he wrote, — 

" I am now by desire of the General to add a few words on his 
behalf ; which he desires may be expressed in the terms following, 
that is to say, — that despairing of hearing what may be said of him, 
if he should really go off in an apoplectic, or any other fit (for he 
thinks all fits that issue in death are worse than a love fit, a fit of 
laughter, and many other kinds which he could name) — he is glad 
to hear beforehand what will be said of him on that occasion ; con- 
ceiving that nothing extra will happen between this and then to make 
a change in his character for better, or for worse. And besides, as 
he has entered into an engagement . . . not to quit this world be- 
fore the year 1800, it may be j-elied upon that no breach of contract 
shall be laid to him on that account, unless dire necessity should 
bring it about, maugre all his exertions to the contrary. In that 
same, he shall hope they would do by him as he would do by them — 
excuse it. At present there seems to be no danger of his thus giving 

i8i 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

them the slip, as neither his health nor spirits, were ever in greater 
flow, notwithstanding, he adds, he is descending, and has almosl 
reached the bottom of the hill ; or in other words, the shades be- 
low. For your particular good wishes on this occasion he charges 
me to say that he feels highly obliged, and that he reciprocates them 
with great cordiality." 

Other social qualities of the man cannot be passed 
over. A marked trait was his extreme fondness of 
afternoon tea. ** Dined at Mr. Langdon's, and drank 
Tea there, with a large circle of Ladies;" "in the 
afternoon drank Tea . . . with about 20 ladies, who 
had been assembled for the occasion;" "exercised 
between 5 & 7 o'clock in the morning & drank 
Tea with Mrs. Clinton (the Governor's Lady) in the 
afternoon ;" " Drank tea at the Chief Justice's of 
the U. States ;" " Dined with the Citizens in public ; 
and in the afternoon, was introduced to upwards 
of 50 ladies who had assembled (at a Tea party) on 
the occasion ;" "Dined and drank tea at Mr. Bing- 
ham's in great splendor." Such are the entries 
in his diary whenever the " kettle-a-boiling-be" was 
within reach. Pickering's journal shows that tea 
was served regularly at head-quarters, and at Mount 
Vernon it was drunk in summer on the veranda. 
In writing to Knox of his visit to Boston, Wash- 
ington mentioned his recollection of the chats over 
tea-drinking, and of how "social and gay" they 
were. 

A fondness for picnics was another social liking. 
"Rid with Fanny Bassett, Mr. Taylor and Mr. 
Shaw to meet a Party from Alexandria at Johnsons 
Spring . . . where we dined on a cold dinner 
brought from Town by water and spent the After- 

182 



SOCIAL LIFE 

noon agreeably — Returning home by Sun down or 
a little after it," is noted in his diary on one occa- 
sion, and on another he wrote, " Having formed a 
Party, consisting of the Vice-President, his lady, 
Son & Miss Smith ; the Secretaries of State, Treasury 
& War, and the ladies of the two latter ; with all 
the Gentlemen of my family, Mrs. Lear & the two 
Children, we visited the old position of Fort Wash- 
ington and afterwards dined on a dinner provided 
by Mr. Mariner." Launchings, barbecues, clam- 
bakes, and turtle dinners were other forms of social 
dissipations. 

A distinct weakness was dancing. When on the 
frontier he sighed, *' the hours at present are mel- 
ancholy dull. Neither the rugged toils of war, nor 
the gentler conflict of A[ssembly] B[alls,] is in my 
choice." His diary shows him at balls and '' Routs" 
frequently ; when he was President he was a con- 
stant attendant at the regular " Dancing Assemblies" 
in New York and Philadelphia, and when at Mount 
Vernon he frequently went ten miles to Alexandria 
to attend dances. Of one of these Alexandria balls 
he has left an amusing description : ** Went to a 
ball at Alexandria, where Musick and dancing was 
the chief Entertainment, however in a convenient 
room detached for the purpose abounded great 
plenty of bread and butter, some biscuits, with tea 
and coffee, which the drinkers of could not dis- 
tinguish from hot water sweet' ned — Be it remem- 
bered that pocket handkerchiefs servd the purposes 
of Table cloths & Napkins and that no apologies 
were made for either. I shall therefore distinguish 

183 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

this ball by the stile and title of the Bread & Butter 
Ball." 

During the Revolution, too, he killed many a 
weary hour of winter quarters by dancing. When 
the camp spent a day rejoicing over the French alli- 
ance, **the celebration," according toThacher, "was 
concluded by a splendid ball opened by his Excel- 
lency General Washington, having for his partner 
the lady of General Knox." Greene describes how 
*' we had a little dance at my quarters a few even- 
ings past. His Excellency and Mrs. Greene danced 
upwards of three hours without once sitting down." 
Knox, too, tells of ** a most genteel entertainment 
given by self and officers" at which Washington 
danced. " Everybody allows it to be the first of 
the kind ever exhibited in this State at least. We 
had above seventy ladies, all of the first ton in the 
State, and between three and four hundred gentle- 
men. We danced all night — an elegant room, the 
illuminating, fireworks, &c., were more than pretty." 
And at Newport, when Rochambeau gave a ball, by 
request it was opened by Washington. The dance 
selected by his partner was "A Successful Cam- 
paign," then in high favor, and the French officers 
took the instruments from the musicians and played 
while he danced the first figure. 

While in winter quarters he subscribed four hun- 
dred dollars (paper money, equal to eleven dol- 
lars in gold) to get up a series of balls, of which 
Greene wrote, **We have opened an assembly in 
Camp, From this apparent ease, I suppose it is 
thought we must be in happy circumstances. I 

184 



SOCIAL LIFE 

wish it was so, but, alas, it is not. Our provisions 
are in a manner, gone. We have not a ton of hay 
at command, nor magazine to draw from. Money- 
is extremely scarce and worth little when we get it. 
We have been so poor in camp for a fortnight, that 
we could not forward the public dispatches, for want 
of cash to support the expresses." At the farewell 
ball given at Annapolis, when the commander-in- 
chief resigned his command, Tilton relates that *' the 
General danced in every set, that all the ladies might 
have the pleasure of dancing with him ; or as it has 
since been handsomely expressed, * get a touch of 
him.'" He still danced in 1796, when sixty-four 
years of age, but when invited to the Alexandria 
Assembly in 1799, he wrote to the managers, 
** Mrs. Washington and myself have been honored 
with your polite invitation to the assemblies of 
Alexandria this winter, and thank you for this mark 
of your attention. But, alas ! our dancing days are 
no more. We wish, however all those who have a 
relish for so agreeable and innocent an amusement 
all the pleasure the season will afford them ; and I 
am, gentlemen, 

"Your most obedient and obliged humble ser- 
vant, 

"Geo. Washington." 



185 



VIII 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 



A MARKED trait of Washington's character was his 
particularity about his clothes ; there can be little 
question that he was early in life a good deal of 
a dandy, and that this liking for fine feathers never 
quite left him. When he was about sixteen years 
old he wrote in his journal, " Memorandum to have 
my Coat made by the following Directions to be 
made a Frock with a Lapel Breast the Lapel to 
Contain on each side six Button Holes and to be 
about 5 or 6 Inches wide all the way equal and to 
turn as the Breast on the Coat does to have it made 
very long Waisted and in Length to come down to 
or below the bent of the knee the Waist from the 
armpit to the Fold to be exactly as long or Longer 
than from thence to the Bottom not to have more 
than one fold in the Skirt and the top to be made 
just to turn in and three Button Holes the Lapel at 
the top to turn as the Cape of the Coat and Bottom 
to Come Parallel with the Button Holes the Last 
Button hole in the Breast to be right opposite to the 
Button on the Hip." 

In 1754 he bought "a Superfine blue broad cloth 
Coat, with Silver Trimmings," "a fine Scarlet Waist- 
coat full Lac'd," and a quantity of ''silver lace for a 
Hatt," and from another source it is learned that at 

186 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

this time he was the possessor of ruffled shirts. A 
little later he ordered from London " As much of the 
best superfine blue Cotton Velvet as will make a 
Coat, Waistcoat and Breeches for a Tall Man, with a 
fine silk button to suit it, and all other necessary- 
trimmings and linings, together with garters for the 
Breeches," and other orders at different times were 
for "6 prs. of the Very neatest shoes," "A riding 
waistcoat of superfine scarlet cloth and gold Lace," 
** 2 prs. of fashionable mix'd or marble Color' d Silk 
Hose," " I piece of finest and fashionable Stock 
Tape," *' I Suit of the finest Cloth & fashionable 
colour," **a New Market Great Coat with a loose 
hood to it, made of Bleu Drab or broad cloth, with 
straps before according to the present taste," *' 3 
gold and scarlet sword-knots, 3 silver and blue do, i 
fashionable gold-laced hat." 

As these orders indicated, the young fellow strove 
to be in the fashion. In 1755 he wrote his brother, 
" as wearing boots is quite the mode, and mine are 
in a declining state, I must beg the favor of you to 
procure me a pair that is good and neat." ''What- 
ever goods you may send me," he wrote his London 
agent, "let them be fashionable, neat and good of 
their several kinds." It was a great trial to him that 
his clothes did not fit him. " I should have enclosed 
you my measure," he wrote to London, " but in a 
general way they are so badly taken here, that I am 
convinced that it would be of very little service." 
•' I have hitherto had my clothes made by one 
Charles Lawrence in Old Fish Street," he wrote his 
English factor. " But whether it be the fault of the 

187 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

tailor, or the measure sent, I can't say, but, certain 
it is, my clothes have never fitted me well." 

It must not be inferred, however, that Washington 
carried his dandyism to weakness. When fine 
clothes were not in place, they were promptly dis- 
carded. In his trip to the Ohio in 1753 he states 
that ** I put myself in an Indian walking Dress," 
and ** tied myself up in a Match Coat," — that is, an 
Indian blanket. In the campaign of 1758 he wrote 
to his superior officer ** that were I left to pursue 
my own Inclinations, I would not only order the 
Men to adopt the Indian dress, but cause the Officers 
to do it also, and be at the first to set the example 
myself. Nothing but the uncertainty of its taking 
with the General causes me to hesitate a moment at 
leaving my Regimentals at this place, and proceed- 
ing as light as any Indian in the Woods. 'T is an 
unbecoming dress, I confess, for an officer ; but 
convenience, rather than shew, I think should be 
consulted." And this was such good sense that the 
general gave him leave, and it was done. 

With increase of years his taste in clothes became 
softened and more sober. '* On the other side is an 
invoice of clothes which I beg the favor of you to 
purchase for me," he wrote to London. *'As they 
are designed for wearing apparel for myself, I have 
committed the choice of them to your fancy, having 
the best opinion of your taste. I want neither lace 
nor embroidery. Plain clothes, with a gold or silver 
button (if worn in genteel dress) are all I desire." 
** Do not conceive," he told his nephew in 1783, 
" that fine clothes make fine men more than fine 

1 88 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

feathers make fine Birds. A plain genteel dress is 
more admired, and obtains more credit than lace 
and embroidery, in the Eyes of the judicious and 
sensible." And in connection with the provisional 
army he decided that '* on reconsidering the uniform 
of the Commander in Chief, it has become a matter 
of doubt with me, (although, as it respects myself 
personally, I was against all embroideiy,) whether 
embroidery on the Cape, Cuffs, and Pockets of the 
Coat, and none on the buff waistcoat would not have 
a disjointed and awkward appearance." Probably 
nowhere did he show his good taste more than in 
his treatment of the idea of putting him in classic 
garments when his bust was made by Houdon. 

" In answer to your obliging inquiries respecting the dress, atti- 
tude, &c.," he wrote, "which I would wish to have given to the 
statue in question, I have only to observe, that, not having sufficient 
knowledge in the art of sculpture to oppose my judgment to the taste 
of connoisseurs, I do not desire to dictate in the matter. On the 
contrary I shall be perfectly satisfied with whatever may be judged 
decent and proper. I should even scarcely have ventured to suggest, 
that perhaps a servile adherence to the garb of antiquity might not 
be altogether so expedient, as some httle deviation in favor of the 
modern costume." 

Washington, as noted, bought his clothes in 
England ; but it was from necessity more than 
choice. *' If there be any homespun Cloths in 
Philadelphia which are tolerably fine, that you can 
come reasonably at," he said to his Philadelphia 
agent in 1784, *' I would be obliged to you to send 
me patterns of some of the best kinds — I should 
prefer that which is mixed in the grain, because it 
will not so readily discover its quality as a plain 

189 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

cloth." Before he was inaugurated he wrote 
" General Knox this day to procure me homespun 
broadcloth of the Hartford fabric, to make a suit of 
clothes for myself," adding, " I hope it will not be a 
great while before it will be unfashionable for a 
gentleman to appear in any other dress. Indeed, 
we have already been too long subject to British 
prejudices." At another time he noted in his diary 
with evident pride, '' on this occasion I was dressed 
in a suit made at the Woolen Manufactory at Hart- 
ford, as the buttons also were." But then, as nov/, 
the foreign clothes were so much finer that his taste 
overcame his patriotism, and his secretary wrote that 
''the President is desireous of getting as much 
superfine blk broad Cloth as will make him a suit of 
Clothes, and desires me to request that you would 
send him that quantity . . . The best superfine 
French or Dutch black — exceedingly fine — of a soft, 
silky texture — not glossy like the Engh cloths." 

A caller during the Presidency spoke of him as 
dressed in purple satin, and at his levees he is de- 
scribed by Sullivan as " clad in black velvet ; his 
hair in full dress, powdered and gathered behind in 
a large silk bag ; yellow gloves on his hands ; hold- 
ing a cocked hat with a cockade in it, and the edges 
adorned with a black feather about an inch deep. 
He wore knee and shoe buckles ; and a long sword, 
with a finely wrought and polished steel hilt, which 
appeared at the left hip ; the coat worn over the 
sword, so that the hilt, and the part below the coat 
behind, were in view. The scabbard was white 

polished leather." 

190 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

About his person Washington was as neat as he 
desired his clothes to be. At seventeen when sur- 
veying he records that he was 

" Lighted into a Room & I not being so good a Woodsman as ye 
rest of my Company striped myself very orderly & went in to ye Bed 
as they called it when to my Surprize I found it to be nothing but a 
Little Straw — Matted together without Sheets or any thing else but 
only one thread Bear blanket with double its Weight of Vermin such 
as Lice, Fleas &c. I was glad to get up (as soon as ye Light was car- 
ried from us) I put on my Cloths & Lay as my Companions. Had 
we not have been very tired I am sure we should not have slep'd 
much that night. I made a Promise not to Sleep so from that time 
forward chusing rather to sleep in ye open Air before a fire as will 
appear hereafter." The next day he notes that the party " Travell'd 
up to Frederick Town where our Baggage came to us we cleaned 
ourselves (to get Rid of ye Game we had catched y. Night before)" 
and slept in " a good Feather Bed with clean Sheets which was a 
very agreeable regale." 

Wherever he happened to be, the laundress was 
in constant demand. His bill from the washer- 
lady for the week succeeding his inauguration as 
President, and before his domestic menage was 
in running order, was for " 6 Ruffled shirts, 2 
plain shirts, 8 stocks, 3 pair Silk Hose, 2 White 
hand. 2 Silk Handks. i pr. Flanl. Drawers, i Hair 
nett." 

The barber, too, was a constant need, and Wash- 
ington's ledger shows constant expenditures for per- 
fumed hair-powder and pomatum, and also for 
powder bags and puffs. Apparently the services of 
this individual were only for the arranging of his hair, 
for he seems never to have shaved Washington, that 
being done either by himself or by his valet. Of 
this latter individual Washington said (when the 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

injury to William Lee unfitted him for the service), 
" I do not as yet know whether I shall get a substi- 
tute for William : nothing short of excellent qualities 
and a man of good appearance, would induce me to 
do it — and under my present view of the matter, 
too, who would employ himself otherwise than Wil- 
liam did — that is as a butler as well as a valette, for 
my wants of the latter are so trifling that any man 
(as William was) would soon be ruined by idleness, 
who had only them to attend to." 

In food Washington took what came with philos- 
ophy. *' If you meet with collegiate fare, it will be 
unmanly to complain," he told his grandson, though 
he once complained in camp that "we are debarred 
from the pleasure of good living ; which, Sir, (I dare 
say with me you will concur,) to one who has always 
been used to it, must go somewhat hard to be con- 
fined to a little salt provision and water." Usually, 
however, poor fare was taken as a matter of course. 
"When we came to Supper," he said in his journal 
of 1748, "there was neither a Cloth upon ye Table 
nor a Knife to eat with but as good luck would have 
it we had Knives of our own," and again he wrote, 
"we puU'd out our Knapsack in order to Recruit 
ourselves every one was his own Cook our Spits was 
Forked Sticks our Plates was a Large Chip as for 
Dishes we had none." Nor was he squeamish about 
what he ate. In the voyage to Barbadoes he sev- 
eral times ate dolphin ; he notes that the bread was 
almost "eaten up by Weavel & Maggots," and be- 
came quite enthusiastic over some "very fine Bris- 
tol tripe" and "a fine Irish Ling & Potatoes." But 

192 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

all this may have been due to the proverbial sea 
appetite. 

Samuel Stearns states that Washington ** break- 
fasts about seven o'clock on three small Indian hoe- 
cakes, and as many dishes of tea," and Custis re- 
lates that '* Indian cakes, honey, and tea formed this 
temperate repast." These two writers tell us that 
at dinner " he ate heartily, but was not particular in 
his diet, with the exception of fish, of which he was 
excessively fond. He partook sparingly of dessert, 
drank a home-made beverage, and from four to five 
glasses of Madeira wine" (Custis), and that "he 
dines, commonly on a single dish, and drinks from 
half a pint to a pint of Madeira wine. This, with 
one small glass of punch, a draught of beer, and 
two dishes of tea (which he takes half an hour be- 
fore sun-setting) constitutes his whole sustenance till 
the next day." (Stearns.) Ashbel Green relates that 
at the state banquets during the Presidency Wash- 
ington "generally dined on one single dish, and 
that of a very simple kind. If offered something 
either in the first or second course which was very 
rich, his usual reply was — 'That is too good for 
me.*" It is worth noting that he religiously ob- 
served the fasts proclaimed in 1774 and 1777, going 
v/ithout food the entire day. 

A special hking is mentioned above. In 1782 
Richard Varick wrote to a friend, " General Wash- 
ington dines with me tomorrow ; he is exceedingly 
fond of salt fish ; I have some coming up, & tho' it 
will be here in a few days, it will not be here in time 
— If you could conveniently lend me as much fish 
13 193 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

as would serve a pretty'large company tomorrow (at 
least for one Dish), it will oblige me, and shall in a 
very few days be returned in as good Dun Fish as 
ever you see. Excuse this freedom, and it will add 
to the favor. Could you not prevail upon somebody 
to catch some Trout for me early tomorrow morn- 
ing?" When procurable, salt codfish was Wash- 
ington's regular Sunday dinner. 

A second liking was honey. His ledger several 
times mentions purchases of this, and in 1789 his 
sister wrote him, " when I last had the Pleasure of 
seeing you I observ'd your fondness for Honey; I 
have got a large Pot of very fine in the comb, which 
I shall send by the first opportunity." Among his 
purchases ''sugar candy" is several times mentioned, 
but this may have been for children, and not for 
himself He was a frequent buyer of fruit of all 
kinds and of melons. 

He was very fond of nuts, buying hazelnuts and 
sheUbarks by the barrel, and he wrote his overseer 
in 1792 to *'tell house Frank I expect he will lay 
up a more plenteous store of the black common 
walnuts than he usually does." The Prince de 
Broglie states that '' at dessert he eats an enormous 
quantity of nuts, and when the conversation is enter- 
taining he keeps eating through a couple of hours, 
from time to time giving sundry healths, according 
to the English and American custom. It is what 
they call 'toasting.' " 

Washington was from boyhood passionately fond 
of horsemanship, and when but seventeen owned a 
horse. Humphreys states that "all those who have 

194 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

seen General Washington on horseback, at the head 
of his army, will doubtless bear testimony with the 
author that they never saw a more graceful or digni- 
fied person," and Jefferson said of him that he was 
** the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful 
figure that could be seen on horseback." His diary 
shows that he rode on various occasions as much as 
sixty miles in a day, and Lawrence reports that he 
" usually rode from Rockingham to Princeton, which 
is five miles, in forty minutes." John Hunter, in a 
visit to Mount Vernon in 1785, writes that he went 

**to see his famous race-horse Magnolia — a most beautiful creature. 
A whole length of his was taken a while ago, (mounted on Magnolia) 
by a famous man from Europe on copper. ... I afterwards went to 
his stables, where among an amazing number of horses, I saw old 
Nelson, now 22 years of age, that carried the General almost always 
during the war ; Blueskin, another fine old horse next to him, now 
and then had that honor. Shaw also shewed me his old servant, 
that was reported to have been taken, with a number of the Gen- 
eral's papers about him. They have heard the roaring of many a 
cannon in their time. Blueskin was not the favorite, on account of 
his not standing fire so well as venerable old Nelson." 

Chastellux relates, ** he was so attentive as to give 
me the horse he rode, the day of my arrival, which 
I had greatly commended — I found him as good 
as he is handsome ; but above all, perfectly well 
broke, and well trained, having a good mouth, easy 
in hand and stopping short in a gallop without bear- 
ing the bit — I mention these minute particulars, 
because it is the general himself who breaks all his 
own horses ; and he is a very excellent and bold 
horseman, leaping the highest fences, and going ex- 
tremely quick, without standing upon his stirrups, 

195 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

bearing on the bridle, or letting his horse run 
wild." 

As a matter of course this liking for horses made 
Washington fond of racing, and he not only sub- 
scribed liberally to most of the racing purses, but 
ran horses at them, attending in person, and betting 
moderately on the results. So, too, he was fond of 
riding to the hounds, and when at Mount Vernon it 
was a favorite pastime. From his diaiy excerpts of 
runs are, — 

" Went a Fox hunting with the Gentlemen who came here yester. 
day. . . . after a very early breakfast — found a Fox just back of 
Muddy hole Plantation and after a Chase of an hour and a quarter 
with my Dogs, & eight couple of Doctor Smiths (brought by Mr. 
Phil Alexander) we put him into a hollow tree, in which we fastened 
him, and in the Pincushion put up another Fox which, in an hour & 
13 Minutes was killed — We then after allowing the Fox in the hole 
half an hour put the Dogs upon his trail & in half a Mile he took to 
another hollow tree and was again put out of it but he did not go 600 
yards before he had recourse to the same shift — finding therefore that 
he was a conquered Fox we took the Dogs off, and came home to 
Dinner." 

*' After an early breakfast [my nephew] George Washington, Mr. 
Shaw and Myself went into the Woods back of Muddy hole Planta- 
tion a hunting and were joined by Mr. Lund Washington and Mr. 
William Peake. About half after ten Oclock (being first plagued 
with the Dogs running Hogs) we found a fox near Colo Masons 
Plantation on little Hunting Creek (West fork) having followed on 
his Drag more than half a Mile ; and run him with Eight Dogs (the 
other 4 getting, as was supposed after a Second Fox) close and well 
for an hour. When the Dogs came to a fault and to cold Hunting 
until 20 minutes after when being joined by the missing Dogs they 
put him up afresh and in about 50 Minutes killed up in an open field 
of Colo Mason's every Rider & every Dog being present at the 
Death." 

During the Revolution, when opportunity offered, 
he rode to the hounds, for Hiltzheimer wrote in 

196 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

1781, *' My son Robert [having] been on a Hunt at 
Frankfort says that His Excel'y Gen. Waishington 
was there." 

This hking made dogs an interest to him, and he 
took much pains to improve the breed of his hounds. 
On one occasion he ** anointed all my Hounds (as 
well old Dogs as Puppies) which have the mange, 
with Hogs Lard & Brimstone. ' ' Mopsey, Pilot, Tartar, 
Jupiter, Trueman, Tipler, Truelove, Juno, Dutchess, 
Ragman, Countess, Lady, Searcher, Rover, Sweet- 
lips, Vulcan, Singer, Music, Tryal, and Forrester are 
some of the names he gave them. In 1794, in the 
fall of his horse, as already mentioned, he wrenched 
his back, and in consequence, when he returned to 
Mount Vernon, this pastime was never resumed, and 
his pack was given up. 

Kindred to this taste for riding to the hounds was 
one for gunning. A few entries in his diary tell the 
nature of his sport. "Went a ducking between 
breakfast and dinner and kill'd 2 Mallards & 5 bald 
faces.'* " I went to the Creek but not across it. 
Kill'd 2 ducks, viz. a sprig tail and a Teal." "Rid 
out with my gun but kill'd nothing." In 1787 a 
man asked for permission to shoot over Mount Ver- 
non, and Washington refused it because 

**my fixed determination is, that no person whatever shall hunt upon 
my grounds or waters — To grant leave to one and refuse another 
would not only be drawing a line of discrimination which would be 
offensive, but would subject one to great inconvenience — for my 
Ftrict and positive orders to all my people are if they hear a gun fired 
upon my Land to go immediately in pursuit of it. . . . Besides, as I 
have not lost my relish for this sport when I find time to indulge 
myself in it, and Gentlemen who come to the House are pleased 

197 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

with it, it is my wish not to have game within my jurisdiction dis. 
turbed." 

Fishing was another pastime. He "went a 
dragging for Sturgeon" frequently, and sometimes 
"catch'd one" and sometimes **catch'd none." 
While in Philadelphia in 1787 he went up to the 
old camp at Valley Forge and spent a day fishing, 
and in 1789 at Portsmouth, ''having lines, we pro- 
ceeded to the Fishing Banks a little without the 
Harbour and fished for Cod ; but it not being a 
proper time of tide, we only caught two." After his 
serious sickness in 1790 a newspaper reports that 
"yesterday afternoon the President of the United 
States returned from Sandy Hook and the fishing 
banks, where he had been for the benefit of the sea 
air, and to amuse himself in the delightful recreation 
of fishing. We are told he has had excellent sport, 
having himself caught a great number of sea-bass 
and black fish — the weather proved remarkably fine, 
which, together with the salubrity of the air and 
wholesome exercise, rendered this little voyage ex- 
tremely agreeable, and cannot fail, we hope, of 
being serviceable to a speedy and complete restora- 
tion of his health." 

Washington was fond of cards, and in bad weather 
even records "at home all day, over cards." How 
much time must have been spent in this way is 
shown by the innumerable purchases of " i dozen 
packs playing cards" noted in his ledger. In 1748, 
when he was sixteen years old, he won two shillings 
and threepence from his sister-in-law at whist and 
five shillings at *' Loo" (or, as he sometimes spells it, 

198 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

"Lue") from his brother, and he seems always to 
have played for small stakes, which sometimes 
mounted into fairly sizable sums. The largest gain 
found is three pounds, and the largest loss nine 
pounds fourteen shillings and ninepence. He seems 
to have lost oftener than he won. 

Billiards was a rival of cards, and a game of 
which he seems to have been fond. In his seven- 
teenth year he won one shilling and threepence by 
the cue, and from that time won and lost more or 
less money in this way. Here, too, he seems to have 
been out of pocket, though not for so much money, 
his largest winning noted being only seven shillings 
and sixpence, and his largest loss being one pound 
and ten shillings. 

In 175 1, at Barbadoes, Washington "was treated 
with a play ticket to see the Tragedy of George 
Barnwell acted : the character of Barnwell and 
several others was said to be well perform' d there 
was Musick a Dapted and regularly conducted." 
This presumptively was the lad's first visit to the 
playhouse, but from that time it was one of his 
favorite amusements. At first his ledger shows ex- 
penditures of "Cash at the Play House 1/3,*' which 
proves that his purse would bear the cost of only the 
cheapest seats ; but later he became more extrava- 
gant in this respect, and during the Presidency he 
used the drama for entertaining, his ledger giving 
many items of tickets bought. A type entry in 
Washington's diary is, "Went to the play in the 
evening — sent tickets to the following ladies and 
gentlemen and invited them to seats in my box, viz : 

199 



THE TRUE GEORGE v/ASHIInIGTON 

— 'Mrs. Adams (lady of the Vice-President,) General 
Schuyler and lady, Mr. King and lady, Majr. Butler 
and lady, Colo Hamilton and lady, Mrs. Green — all 
of whom accepted and came except Mrs. Butler, 
who was indisposed." 

Maclay describes the first of these theatre parties 
as follows : '' I received a ticket from the President 
of the United States to use his box this evening at 
the theatre, being the first of his appearances at the 
playhouse since his entering on his office. Went. 
The President, Governor of the State, foreign Minis- 
ters, Senators from New Hampshire, Connecticut, 
Pennsylvania, M. [aryland] and South Carolina ; and 
some ladies in the same box. I am old, and notices 
or attentions are lost on me. I could have wished 
some of my dear children in my place ; they are 
young and would have enjoyed it. Long might they 
live to boast of having been seated in the same box 
with the first Character in the world. The play was 
the 'School for Scandal.' I never liked it; indeed, 
I think it an indecent representation before ladies 
of character and virtue. Farce, the * Old Soldier.' 
The house greatly crowded, and I thought the 
players acted well ; but I wish we had seen the 
Conscious Lovers, or some one that incuicated more 
prudential manners." 

Of the play, or rather interlude, of the "Old 
Soldier" its author, Dunlap, gives an amusing story. 
It turned on the home-coming of an old soldier, 
and, like the topical song of to-day, touched on local 
affairs 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

"When Wignell, as Darby, recounts what had befallen him in 
America, in New York, at the adoption of the Federal Constitution, 
and the inauguration of the president, the interest expressed by the 
audience in the looks and the changes of countenance of this great 
man [Washington] became intense. He smiled at these lines, 
alluding to the change in the government — 

There too I saw some mighty pretty shows ; 
A revolution, without blood or blows, 
For, as I understood, the cunning elves, 
The people all revolted from themselves. 

But at the lines — 

A man who fought to free the land from wo, 
Like me, had left his farm, a-soldiering to go : 
But having gain'd his point, he had like me^ 
Retum'd his own potato ground to see. 
But there he could not rest. With one accord 
He's called to be a kind of— not a lord — 
I don't know what, he's not a great man, sure, 
For poor men love him just as he were poor. 
They love him like a father or a brother, 

Dermot. 
As we poor Irishmen love one another. 

The president looked serious ; and when Kathleen asked, 

How looked he, Darby ? Was he short or tall ? 

his countenance showed embarrassment, from the expectation or 
one of those eulogiums which he had been obliged to hear on many 
public occasions, and which must doubtless have been a severe trial 
to his feelings : but Darby's answer that he had not seen him, because 
he had mistaken a man 'all lace and glitter, botherum and shine,' 
for him, until all the show had passed, relieved the hero from appre- 
hension of further personality, and he indulged in that which was 
with him extremely rare, a hearty laugh." 

Washington did not even despise amateur per- 
formances. As already mentioned, he expressed a 
wish to take part in **Cato" himself in 1758, and 
a year before he had subscribed to the regimental 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

"players at Fort Cumberland." His diary shows 
that in 1768 the couple at Mount Vernon ** & ye two 
children were up to Alexandria to see the Inconstant 
or the way to win him acted," which was probably 
an amateur performance. Furthermore, Duer tells 
us that *' I was not only frequently admitted to the 
presence of this most august of men, in propria per- 
sona, but once had the honor of appearing before 
him as one of the dramatis personce in the tragedy 
of Julius Caesar, enacted by a young ' American 
Company,' (the theatrical corps then performing in 
New York being called the 'Old American Com- 
pany') in the garret of the Presidential mansion, 
wherein before the magnates of the land and the 
elite of the city, I performed the part of Brutus 
to the Cassius of my old school-fellow, Washington 
Custis." 

The theatre was by no means the only show that 
appealed to Washington. He went to the circus 
when opportunity offered, gave nine shillings to a 
**man who brought an elk as a show," three shillings 
and ninepence " to hear the Armonica," two dollars 
for tickets "to see the automatum," treated the 
"Ladies to ye Microcosm" and paid to see wax- 
works, puppet shows, a dancing bear, and a lioness 
and tiger. Nor did he avoid a favorite Virginia 
pastime, but attended cockfights when able. His 
frequent going to concerts has been already men- 
tioned. 

Washington seems to have been little of a reader 
except of books on agriculture, which he bought, 
read, and even made careful abstracts of many, and 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

on this subject alone did he ever seem to write from 
pleasure. As a lad, he notes in his journal that he 
is reading The Spectator and a history of England, 
but after those two brief entries there is no further 
mention of books or reading in his daily memo- 
randum of ** where and how my time is spent." In 
his ledger, too, almost the least common expendi- 
ture entered is one for books. Nor do his London 
invoices, so far as extant, order any books but those 
which treated of farming and horses. In the settle- 
ment of the Custis estate, "I had no particular 
reason for keeping and handing down to his son, the 
books of the late Colo Custis saving that I thought 
it would be taking the advantage of a low appraise- 
ment, to make them my own property at it, and that 
to sell them was not an object." 

With the broadening that resulted from the com- 
mand of the army more attention was paid to books, 
and immediately upon the close of the Revolution 
Washington ordered the following works : '' Life of 
Charles the Twelfth," ''Life of Louis the Fifteenth," 
"Life and Reign of Peter the Great," Robertson's 
" History of America," Voltaire's ** Letters," Vertot's 
"Revolution of Rome" and "Revolution of Portugal," 
"Life of Gustavus Adolphus," Sully's "Memoirs," 
Goldsmith's "Natural History," "Campaigns of 
Marshal Turenne," Chambaud's " French and Eng- 
lish Dictionary," Locke " on the Human Under- 
standing," and Robertson's " Charles the Fifth." 
From this time on he was a fairly constant book- 
buyer, and subscribed as a "patron" to a good many 
forthcoming works, while many were sent him as 

203 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

gifts. On politics he seems to have now read with 
interest ; yet in 1 797, after his retirement from the 
Presidency, in writing of the manner in which he 
spent his hours, he said, " it may strike you that in 
this detail no mention is made of any portion of time 
allotted to reading. The remark would be just, for I 
have not looked into a book since I came home, nor 
shall I be able to do it until I have discharged my 
workmen ; probably not before the nights grow long 
when possibly I may be looking into Doomsday 
book." There can be no doubt that through all his 
life Washington gave to reading only the time he 
could not use on more practical affairs. 

His library was a curious medley of books, if 
those on military science and agriculture are omitted. 
There is a fair amount of the standard history of 
the day, a little theology, so ill assorted as to sug- 
gest gifts rather than purchases, a miscellany of con- 
temporary politics, and a very little belles-lettres. In 
political science the only works in the slightest de- 
gree noticeable are Smith's ''Wealth of Nations," 
**The Federalist," and Rousseau's ''Social Compact," 
and, as the latter was in French, it could not have 
been read. In lighter literature Homer, Shakespeare, 
and Burns, Lord Chesterfield, Swift, Smollett, Field- 
ing, and Sterne, and "Don Quixote," are the only 
ones deseiving notice. It is worthy of mention that 
Washington's favorite quotation was Addison's " 'Tis 
not in mortals to command success," but he also 
utilized with considerable aptitude quotations from 
Shakespeare and Sterne. There were half a dozen 
of the ephemeral novels of the day, but these were 

204 



^ 




WASHINGTON'S BOOK-PLATE 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

probably Mrs. Washington's, as her name is written 
in one, and her husband's in none. Writing to his 
grandson, Washington warned him that **hght read- 
ing (by this, I mean books of httle importance) may 
amuse for the moment, but leaves nothing solid 
behind." 

One element of Washington's reading which can- 
not be passed over without notice is that of news- 
papers. In his early life he presumably read the 
only local paper of the time (the Virginia Gazette), 
for when an anonymous writer, ''Centinel," in 1756, 
charged that Washington's regiment was given over 
to drunkenness and other misbehavior, he drew up 
a reply, which he sent with ten shillings to the news- 
paper, but the printer apparently declined to print 
it, for it never appeared. 

After the Revolution he complained to his Phila- 
delphia agent, " I have such a number of Gazettes, 
crowded upon me (many without orders) that they 
are not only expensive, but really useless ; as my 
other avocations will not afford me time to read 
them oftentimes, and when I do attempt it, find 
them more troublesome, than profitable ; I have 
therefore to beg, if you Should get Money into your 
hands on Acct of the Inclosed Certificate, that you 
would be so good as to pay what I am owing to 
Messrs Dunlap & Claypoole, Mr. Oswald & Mr. 
Humphrey's. If they consider me however as en- 
gaged for the year, I am Content to let the matter 
run on to the Expiration of it." During the Presi- 
dency he subscribed to the Gazette of the United 
States, Brown's Gazette, Dunlap's American Adver- 

205 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

tisery the Pemisylvania Gazette, Bache's Aurora, and 
the New York Magazine, Carey's Museimi, and the 
Universal Asylum, though at this time he " lamented 
that the editors of the different gazettes in the 
Union do not more generally and more correctly 
(instead of stuffing their papers with scurrility and 
nonsensical declamation, which few would read if 
they were apprised of the contents,) publish the 
debates in Congress on all great national ques- 
tions." 

Presently, for personal and party reasons, certain 
of the papers began to attack him, and Jefferson 
wrote to Madison that the President was ** extremely 
affected by the attacks made and kept up on him 
in the public papers. I think he feels these things 
more than any person I ever met with." Later the 
Secretary of State noted that at an interview Wash- 
ington '* adverted to a piece in Freneau's paper of 
yesterday, he said that he despised all their attacks 
on him personally, but that there never had been an 
act of government . . . that paper had not abused 
, . . He was evidently sore and warm." At a 
cabinet meeting, too, according to the same writer, 
**the Presidt was much inflamed, got into one of 
those passions when he cannot command himself, 
ran on much on the personal abuse which had been 
bestowed on him, defied any man on earth to pro- 
duce a single act of his since he had been in the 
govmt which was not done on the purest motives, 
that he had never repented but once the having 
slipped the moment of resigning his office, & that 
was every moment since, that by god he had rather 

206 



TASTES AND AMUSEMENTS 

be in his grave than in his present situation. That 
he had rather be on his farm than to be made em- 
peror of the world and yet that they were charging 
him with wanting to be a king. That that rascal 
Freneau sent him 3 of his papers every day, as if 
he thought he would become the distributor of his 
papers, that he could see in this nothing but an 
impudent design to insult him. He ended in this 
high tone. There was a pause." 

To correspondents, too, Washington showed how 
keenly he felt the attacks upon him, writing that 
•* the publications in Freneau's and Bache's papers 
are outrages on common decency ; and they pro- 
gress in that style in proportion as their pieces are 
treated with contempt, and are passed by in silence, 
by those at whom they are aimed," and asked ** in 
what will this abuse terminate? The result, as it 
respects myself, I care not ; for I have consolation 
within, that no earthly efforts can deprive me of, 
and that is, that neither ambitious nor interested 
motives have influenced my conduct. The arrows 
of malevolence, therefore however barbed and well 
pointed, never can reach the most vulnerable part 
of me ; though, whilst I am up as a mark, they will 
be continually aimed." 

On another occasion he said, '* I am beginning to 
receive, what I had made my mind up for on this 
occasion, the abuse of Mr. Bache, and his corre- 
spondents." He wrote a friend, *' if you read the 
Aurora of this city, or those gazettes, which are 
under the same influence, you cannot but have per- 
ceived with what malignant industry and persevering 

207 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

falsehoods I am assailed, in order to weaken if not 
destroy the confidence of the pubHc." 

When he retired from office he apparently cut off 
his subscriptions to papers, for a few months later he 
inquired, *' what is the character of Porcupine's Ga- 
zette ? I had thought when I left Philadelphia, of 
ordering it to be sent to me ; then again, I thought 
it best not to do it ; and altho' I should like to see 
both his and Bache's, the latter may, under all cir- 
cumstances, be the best decision ; I mean not sub- 
scribing to either of them." This decision to have 
no more to do with papers did not last, for on the 
night he was seized with his last illness Lear de- 
scribes how "in the evening the papers having 
come from the post office, he sat in the room with 
Mrs. Washington and myself, reading them, till about 
nine o'clock when Mrs. Washington went up into 
Mrs. Lewis's room, who was confined, and left the 
General and myself reading the papers. He was 
very cheerful ; and, when he met with anything which 
he thought diverting or interesting, he would read it 
aloud as well as his hoarseness would permit. He 
desired me to read to him the debates of the Vir- 
ginia Assembly, on the election of a Senator and 
Governor ; which I did — and, on hearing Mr. Madi- 
son's observations respecting Mr. Monroe, he ap- 
peared much affected, and spoke with some degree 
of asperity on the subject, which I endeavored to 
moderate, as I always did on such occasions." 



208 



IX 

FRIENDS 

The frequently repeated statement that Wash- 
ington was a man without friends is not the least 
curious of the myths that have obtained general 
credence. That it should be asserted only goes to 
show how absolutely his private life has been neg- 
lected in the study of his public career. 

In his will Washington left tokens of remem- 
bra'nce *'to the acquaintances and friends of my 
juvenile years, Lawrence Washington and Robert 
Washington of Chotanck," the latter presumably 
the **dear Robin" of his earliest letter, and these 
two very distant kinsmen, whom he had come to 
know while staying at Wakefield, are the earliest 
friends of whom any record exists. Contemporary 
with them was a " Dear Richard," whose letters gave 
Washington ** unspeakable pleasure, as I am con- 
vinced I am still in the memory of so worthy a 
friend, — a friendship I shall ever be proud of in- 
creasing." 

Next in time came his intimacy with the Fair- 
faxes and Carlyles, which began with Washington's 
visits to his brother Lawrence at Mount Vernon. 
About four miles from that place, at Belvoir, lived 
the Fairfaxes ; and their kinspeople, the Carlyles, 
lived at Alexandria. Lawrence Washington had 
14 209 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

married Ann Fairfax, and through his influence his 
brother George was taken into the employment of 
Lord Fairfax, half as clerk and half as surveyor of 
his great tract of land, **the northern neck," which 
he had obtained by marriage with a daughter of 
Lord Culpeper, who in turn had obtained it from 
the " Merrie Monarch" by means so disreputable that 
they are best left unstated. From that time till his 
death Washington corresponded with several of the 
family and was a constant visitor at Belvoir, as the 
Fairfaxes were at Mount Vernon. 

In 1755 Washington told his brother that "to 
that family I am under many obligations, particu- 
larly the old gentleman," but as time went on he 
more than paid the debt. In 1 7*5 7 he acted as pall- 
bearer to William Fairfax, and twelve years later 
his diaiy records, " Set off with Mrs. Washington 
and Patsey, ... in order to stand for Mr. B. Fair- 
fax's third son, which I did together with my wife, 
Mr. Warner Washington and his lady." For one 
of the family he obtained an army commission, and 
for another he undertook the care of his property 
during a visit to England ; a care which unex- 
pectedly lengthened, and was resigned only when 
Washington's time became public property. Nor 
did that lessen his services or the Fairfaxes' need 
of them, for in the Revolution that family were 
loyalists. Despite this, *'the friendship," Washing- 
ton assured them, ''which I ever professed and felt 
for you, met no diminution from the difference in 
our pohtical sentiments," and in 1778 he was able 
to secure the safety of Lord Fairfax from persecu- 

210 



m 



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(■■;,* 






If 



r^-u M'' 






1^ ,... ]._. ,-^:i 




~K 



^Jcot /.>/i ^ nrrri 







SURVEY OF WASHINGTON'S BIRTHPLACE (WAKEFIELD), 1 743 



FRIENDS 

tion at the hands of the Whigs, a service acknowl- 
edged by his lordship in the following words : 

•' There are times when favors conferred make a greater impres- 
sion than at others, for, though I have received many, I hope I have 
not been unmindful of them ; yet that, at a time your popularity was 
at the highest and mine at the lowest, and when it is so common for 
men's resentments to run up high against those, who differ from 
them in opinion, you should act with your wonted kindness towards 
me, has affected me more than any favor I have received ; and could 
not be believed by some in New York, it being above the run of 
common minds." 

In behalf of another member of the family, threat- 
ened with confiscation, he wrote to a member of the 
House of Delegates, '* I hope, I trust, that no act of 
Legislation in the State of Virginia has affected, or 
can affect, the property of this gentleman, otherwise 
than in common with that of every good and well 
disposed citizen of America," and this was sufficient 
to put an end to the project. At the close of the 
war he wrote to this absentee, ** There was nothing 
wanting in [your] Letter to give compleat satisfac- 
tion to Mrs. Washington and myself but some ex- 
pression to induce us to believe you would once 
more become our neighbors. Your house at Bel- 
voir I am sorry to add is no more, but mine (which 
is enlarged since you saw it), is most sincerely and 
heartily at your service till you could rebuild it. As 
the path, after being closed by a long, arduous, and 
painful contest, is to use an Indian metaphor, now 
opened and made smooth, I shall please myself with 
the hope of hearing from you frequently ; and till 
you forbid me to indulge the wish, I shall not de- 

211 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

spair of seeing you and Mrs. Fairfax once more the 
inhabitants of Belvoir, and greeting you both there 
the intimate companions of our old age, as you 
have been of our younger years." And to another 
he left a token of remembrance in his will. 

One of the most curious circle of friends was that 
composed of Indians. After his mission among 
them in 1753, Washington wrote to a tribe and 
signed himself *'your friend and brother." In a 
less general sense he requested an Indian agent to 
** recommend me kindly to Mononcatoocha and 
others ; tell them how happy it would make Cono- 
tocarius to have an opportunity of taking them 
by the hand." A little later he had this pleasure, 
and he wrote the governor, ** the Indians are all 
around teasing and perplexing me for one thing or 
another, so that I scarce know what I write." When 
Washington left the frontier this intercourse ceased, 
but he was not forgotten, for in descending the Ohio 
in his Western trip of 1770 a hunting party was 
met, and "in the person of Kiashuto I found an 
old acquaintance, he being one of the Indians 
that went [with me] to the French in 1753. He 
expressed satisfaction at seeing me, and treated us 
with great kindness, giving us a quarter of very fine 
buffalo. He insisted upon our spending that night 
with him, and, in order to retard us as little as pos- 
sible moved his camp down the river." 

With his appointment to the Virginia regiment 
came military friends. From the earliest of these — 
Van Braam, who had served under Lawrence Wash- 
ington in the Carthagena expedition of 1742, and 

212 , 



FRIENDS 

who had come to Hve at Mount Vernon — Washing- 
ton had previously taken lessons in fencing, and 
when appointed the bearer of a letter to the French 
commander on the Ohio he took Van Braam with 
him as interpreter. A little later, on receiving his 
majority, Washington appointed Van Braam his 
recruiting lieutenant, and recommended him to the 
governor for a captain's commission on the grounds 
that he was ''an experienced good officer." To 
Van Braam fell the duty of translating the capitula- 
tion to the French at Fort Necessity, and to his 
reading was laid the blunder by which Washington 
signed a statement acknowledging himself as an 
** assassin." In consequence he became the scape- 
goat of the expedition, was charged by the gov- 
ernor with being a " poltroon" and traitor, and was 
omitted from the Assembly's vote of thanks and 
extra pay to the regiment. But Washington stood 
by him, and when himself burgess succeeded in 
getting this latter vote rescinded. 

Another friend of the same period was the Cheva- 
lier Peyroney, whom Washington first made an en- 
sign, and then urged the governor to advance him, 
promising that it the governor ''should be pleased 
to indulge me in this request, I shall look upon it in a 
very particular light." Peyroney was badly wounded 
at Fort Necessity and was furloughed, during which 
he wrote his commander, " I have made my par- 
ticular Business to tray if any had some Bad in- 
tention against you here Below ; But thank God I 
meet allowais with a good wish for you from evry 
Mouth each one entertining such Caracter of you 

213 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

as I have the honour to do myself." He served 
a^ain in the Braddock march, and in that fiasco, 
Washington wrote, " Captain Peyroney and all his 
officers down to a corporal, was killed." 

With Captain Stewart — *' a gentleman whose as- 
siduity and miHtary capacity are second to none in 
our Service" — Washington was intimate enough to 
have Stewart apply in 1 763 for four hundred pounds 
to aid him to purchase a commission, a sum Wash- 
ington did not have at his disposal. But because of 
*' a regard of that high nature that I could never 
see you uneasy without feeling a part and wishing 
to remove the cause," Washington lent him three 
hundred pounds towards it, apparently without 
much return, for some years later he wrote to a 
friend that he was "veiy glad to learn that my 
friend Stewart was well when you left London. I 
have not had a letter from him these five years." 
At the close of the Revolution he received a letter 
from Stewart containing " affectionate and flatter- 
ing expressions," which gave Washington "much 
pleasure," as it "removed an apprehension I had 
long labored under, of your having taken your de- 
parture for the land of Spirits. How else could I 
account for a silence of 1 5 years. I shall always be 
happy to see you at Mt Vernon." 

His friend William Ramsay — "well known, well- 
esteemed, and of unblemished character" — he ap- 
pointed commissary, and long after, in 1769, wrote, — • 

'* Having once or twice of late heard you speak highly in praise o 
the Jersey College, as if you had a desire of sending your son William 
there ... I should be glad, if you have no other objection to it 

214 



FRIENDS 

than what may arise from the expense, if you would send him there 
as soon as it is convenient, and depend on me for twenty-five pounds 
this currency a year for his support, so long as it may be necessary 
for the completion of his education. If I live to see the accomplish- 
ment of this term, the sum here stipulated shall be annually paid ; 
and if I die in the mean while, this letter shall be obligatory upon my 
heirs, or executors, to do it according to the true intent and meaning 
hereof. No other return is expected, or wished, for this offer, than 
that you will accept it with the same freedom and good will, with 
which it is made, and that you may not even consider it in the light 
of an obligation or mention it as such ; for, be assured, that from me 
k will never be known." 

The dearest friendship formed in these years was 
i\'ith the doctor of the regiment, James Craik, who 
in the course of his duties attended Washington in 
two serious illnesses, and when the war was ended 
settled near Mount Vernon. He was frequently a 
visitor there, and soon became the family medical 
attendant. When appointed General, Washington 
wrote, " tell Doctor Craik that I should be very glad 
to see him here if there was anything worth his 
acceptance ; but the Massachusetts people suffer 
nothing to go by them that they lay hands upon." 
In 1777 the General secured his appointment as 
deputy surgeon-general of the Middle Department, 
and three years later, when the hospital service was 
being reformed, he used his influence to have him 
retained. Craik was one of those instrumental in 
warning the commander-in-chief of the existence of 
the Conway Cabal, because ** my attachment to 
your person is such, my friendship is so sincere, that 
every hint which has a tendency to hurt your honor, 
wounds me most sensibly." The doctor wac Wash- 
ington's companion, by invitation, in both his later 

215 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

trips to the Ohio, and his trust in him was so strong 
that he put under his care the two nephews whose 
charge he had assumed. In Washington's ledger 
an entry tells of another piece of friendliness, to the 
effect, **Dr. James Craik, paid him, being a donation 
to his son, Geo, Washington Craik for his education 
^30," and after graduating the young man for a 
time served as one of his private secretaries. After 
a serious illness in 1 789, Washington wrote to the 
doctor, ''persuaded as I am, that the case has been 
treated with skill, and with as much tenderness as 
the nature of the complaint would admit, yet I con- 
fess I often wished for your inspection of it," and 
later he wrote, " if I should ever have occasion for 
a Physician or Surgeon, I should prefer my old 
Surgeon, Dr. Craik, who, from 40 years' experience, 
is better qualified than a Dozen of them put to- 
gether." Craik was the first of the doctors to reach 
Washington's bedside in his last illness, and when 
the dying man predicted his own death, " the Doctor 
pressed his hand but could not utter a word. He 
retired from the bedside and sat by the fire absorbed 
in grief" In Washington's will he left " to my com- 
patriot in arms and old and intimate friend. Doctor 
Craik I give my Bureau (or as the Cabinet makers 
called it, Tambour Secretary) and the circular chair, 
an appendage of my study." 

The arrival of Braddock and his army at Alex- 
andria brought a new circle of military friends. 
Washington ''was very particularly noticed by that 
General, was taken into his family as an extra aid, 
offered a Captain's commission by brevet (which wa^ 

216 



FRIENDS 

the highest grade he had it in his power to bestow) 
and had the compHment of several blank Ensign- 
cies given him to dispose of to the Young Gentle- 
men of his acquaintance." In this position he was 
treated ''with much complaisance . . . especially 
from the General," which meant much, as Braddock 
seems to have had nothing but curses for nearly 
every one else, and the more as Washington and he 
" had frequent disputes," which were '' maintained 
with warmth on both sides, especially on his." But 
the general, "though his enmities were strong," in 
" his attachments" was ''warm," and grew to like and 
trust the young volunteer, and had he "survived his 
unfortunate defeat, I should have met with prefer- 
ment," having "his promise to that effect." Wash- 
ington was by the general when he was wounded in 
the lungs, lifted him into a covered cart, and "brought 
him over the first ford of the Monongahela," into 
temporary safety. Three days later Braddock died of 
his wounds, bequeathing to Washington his favorite 
horse and his body-servant as tokens of his grati- 
tude. Over him Washington read the funeral ser- 
vice, and it was left to him to see that " the poor 
general" was interred "with the honors of war." 

Even before public service had made him known, 
Washington was a friend and guest of many of the 
leading Virginians. Between 1747 and 1754 he 
visited the Carters of Shirley, Nomony, and Sabine 
Hall, the Lewises of Warner Hall, the Lees of Strat- 
ford, and the Byrds of Westover, and there was 
acquaintance at least with the Spotswoods, Faun- 
tleroys, Corbins, Randolphs, Harrisons, Robinsons, 

217 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Nicholases, and other prominent families. In fact, 
one friend wrote him, ''your health and good fortune 
are the toast of every table," and another that "the 
Council and Burgesses are mostly your friends," and 
those two bodies included every Virginian of real 
influence. It was Richard Corbin who enclosed him 
his first commission, in a brief note, beginning "Dear 
George" and ending "your friend," but in time re- 
lations became more or less strained, and Washington 
suspected him "of representing my character . . . 
with ungentlemanly freedom." With John Robin- 
son, " Speaker" and Treasurer of Virginia, who wrote 
Washington in 1756, " our hopes, dear George, are 
all fixed on you," a close correspondence was main- 
tained, and when Washington complained of the 
governor's course towards him Robinson replied, " I 
beg dear friend, that you will bear, so far as a man 
of honor ought, the discouragements and slights you 
have too often met with." The son, Beverly Robin- 
son, was a fellow-soldier, and, as already mentioned, 
was Washington's host on his visit to New York in 
1756. The Revolution interrupted the friendship, 
hut it is alleged that Robinson (who was deep in the 
Arnold plot) made an appeal to the old-time relation 
in an endeavor to save Andre. The appeal was in 
vain, but auld lang syne had its influence, for the 
sons of Beverly, British officers taken prisoners in 
1779, were promptly exchanged, so one of them 
asserted, " in consequence of the embers of friend- 
ship that still remained unextinguished in the breasts 
of my father and General Washington." 

Outside of his own colony, too, Washington made 
218 



FRIENDS 

friends of many prominent families, with whom 
there was more or less interchange of hospitality. 
Before the Revolution there had been visiting or 
breaking of bread with the Galloways, Dulaneys, 
Carrolls, Calverts, Jenifers, Edens, Ringgolds, and 
Tilghmans of Maryland, the Penns, Cadwaladers, 
Morrises, Shippens, Aliens, Dickinsons, Chews, and 
Willings of Pennsylvania, and the De Lanceys and 
Bayards of New York. 

Election to the Continental Congress strengthened 
some friendships and added new ones. With Benja- 
min Harrison he was already on terms of intimacy, 
and as long as the latter was in Congress he was 
the member most in the confidence of the Gen- 
eral. Later they differed in pontics, but Washing- 
ton assured Harrison that ** my friendship is not 
in the least lessened by the difference, which has 
taken place in our political sentiments, nor is my 
regard for you diminished by the part you have 
acted." Joseph Jones and Patrick Henry both took 
his part against the Cabal, and the latter did him 
especial service in forwarding to him the famous 
anonymous letter, an act for which Washington felt 
"most grateful obligations." Henry and Washing- 
ton differed later in politics, and it was reported that 
the latter spoke disparagingly of the former, but this 
Washington denied, and not long after offered Henry 
the Secretaryship of State. Still later he made a 
personal appeal to him to come forward and combat 
the Virginia resolutions of 1798, an appeal to which 
Henry responded. The intimacy with Robert Morris 
was close, and, as already noted, Washington and 

219 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

his family were several times inmates of his home. 
Gouverneur Morris was one of his most trusted ad- 
visers, and, it is claimed, gave the casting vote which 
saved Washington from being arrested in 1778, when 
the Cabal was fiercest. While President, W^ashington 
sent him on a most important mission to Great 
Britain, and on its completion made him Minister to 
France. From that post the President was, at the 
request of France, compelled to recall him ; but in 
doing so Washington wrote him a private letter 
assuring Morris that he '* held the same place in 
my estimation" as ever, and signed himself "yours 
affectionately." Charles Carroll of CarroUton was 
a partisan of the General, and very much disgusted 
a member of the Cabal by telling him ** almost 
literally that anybody who displeased or did not 
admire the Commander-in-chief, ought not to be 
kept in the army." And to Edward Rutledge 
Washington wrote, '' I can but love and thank you, 
and I do it sincerely for your polite and friendly 
letter. . . . The sentiments contained in it are such 
as have uniformly flowed from your pen, and they 
are not the less flattering than pleasing to me." 

The command of the Continental army brought a 
new kind of friend, in the young aides of his staff. 
One of his earliest appointments was Joseph Reed, 
and, though he remained but five months in the ser- 
vice, a close friendship was formed. Almost weekly 
Washington wrote him in the most confidential and 
affectionate manner, and twice he appealed to Reed 
to take the position once more, in one instance add- 
ing that if "you are disposed to continue with me, I 



FRIENDS 

shall think myself too fortunate and happy to wish 
for a change." Yet Washington none the less sent 
Reed congratulations on his election to the Pennsyl- 
vania Assembly, *' although I consider it the coup- 
de-grace to my ever seeing you" again a ** member 
of my family," to help him he asked a friend to 
endeavor to get Reed legal business, and when 
all law business ceased and the would-be lawyer 
was without occupation or means of support, he 
used his influence to secure him the appointment of 
adjutant. 

Reed kept him informed as to the news of Phila- 
delphia, and wrote even such adverse criticism of the 
General as he heard, which Washington ** gratefully" 
acknowledged. But one criticism Reed did not 
write was what he himself was saying of his general 
after the fall of Fort Washington, for which he 
blamed the commander-in-chief in a letter to Lee, 
and probably to others, for when later Reed and 
Arnold quarrelled, the latter boasted that *' I can 
say I never basked in the sunshine of my general's 
favor, and courted him to his face, when I was at the 
same time treating him with the greatest disrespect 
and villifying his character Avhen absent. This is 
more than a ruling member of the Council of Penn- 
sylvania can say." Washington learned of this 
criticism in a letter from Lee to Reed, which was 
opened at head-quarters on the supposition that it 
was on army matters, and " with no idea of its being 
a private letter, much less the tendency of the cor- 
respondence," as Washington explained in a letter 
to Reed, which had not a word of reproach for the 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

double-dealing that must have cut the General 
keenly, coming as it did at a moment of misfortune 
and discouragement. Reed wrote a lame explana- 
tion and apology, and later sought to "regain" the 
'Most friendship" by an earnest appeal to Washing- 
ton's generosity. Nor did he appeal in vain, for the 
General replied that though ** I felt myself hurt by a 
certain letter ... I was hurt . . . because the same 
sentiments were not communicated immediately to 
myself" The old-time intimacy was renewed, and 
how little his personal feeling had influenced Wash- 
ington is shown in the fact that even previous to this 
peace-making he had secured for Reed the appoint- 
ment to command one of the choicest brigades in 
the army. Perhaps the friendship was never quite 
as close, but in writing him Washington still signed 
himself ** yours affectionately." 

John Laurens, appointed an aide in 1777, quickly 
endeared himself to Washington, and conceived the 
most ardent affection for his chief The young 
officer of twenty-four used all his influence with his 
father (then President of Congress) against the Cabal, 
and in 1778, when Charles Lee was abusing the 
commander-in-chief, Laurens thought himself bound 
to resent it, *'as well on account of the relation he 
bore to General Washington, as from motives of 
personal friendship and respect for his character," 
and he challenged the defamer and put a bullet into 
him. To his commander he signed himself "with 
the greatest veneration and attachment your Excel- 
lency's Faithful Aid," and Washington in his letters 
always addressed him as " my dear Laurens." After 

223 



FRIENDS 

his death in battle, Washington wrote, in reply to an 
inquiry, — 

"You ask if the character ol Colonel John Laurens, as drawn in 
the Independent Chronicle of 2d of December last, is just. I an- 
swer, that such parts of the drawing as have fallen under my obser- 
vation, is literally so ; and that it is my firm belief his merits and 
worth richly entitle him to the whole picture. No man possessed 
more of the amor patrice. In a word, he had not a fault, that I 
could discover, unless intrepidity bordering upon rashness could 
come under that denomination ; and to this he was excited by the 
purest motives." 

Of another aide, Tench Tilghman, Washington 
said, " he has been a zealous servant and slave to the 
public, and a faithful assistant to me for near five 
years, great part of which time he refused to receive 
pay. Honor and gratitude interest me in his favor." 
As an instance of this, the commander-in-chief gave 
to him the distinction of bearing to Congress the 
news of the surrender of Cornwallis, with the re- 
quest to that body that Tilghman should be honored 
in some manner. And in acknowledging a letter 
Washington said, *' I receive with great sensibility 
and pleasure your assurances of affection and regard. 
It would be but a renewal of what I have often 
repeated to you, that there are few men in the world 
to whom I am more attached by inclination than I 
am to you. With the Cause, I hope — most devoutly 
hope— there will be an end to my Military Service, 
when as our places of residence will not be far apart, 
I shall never be more happy than in your Company 
at Mt. Vernon. I shall always be glad to hear from, 
and keep up a correspondence with you." When 
Tilghman died, Washington asserted that 
223 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

" He had left as fair a reputation as ever belonged to a human 
character," and to his father he wrote, "Of all the numerous ac- 
quaintances of your lately deceased son, & midst all the sorrowings 
that are mingled on that melancholy occasion, I may venture to assert 
that (excepting those of his nearest relatives) none could have felt his 
death with more regret than I did, because no one entertained a 
higher opinion of his worth, or had imbibed sentiments of greater 
friendship for him than I had done. . . . Midst all your grief, there 
is this consolation to be drawn ; — that while living, no man could be 
more esteemed, and since dead, none more lamented than Colo. 
Tilghman. ' ' 

To David Humphreys, a member of the staff, 
Washington gave the honor of carrying to Congress 
the standards captured at Yorktown, recommending 
him to the notice of that body for his *' attention, 
fidehty, and good services." This aide escorted 
Washington to Mount Vernon at the close of the 
Revolution, and was "the last officer belonging to 
the army" who parted from '*the Commander-in- 
chief" Shortly after, Humphreys returned to Mount 
Vernon, half as secretary and half as visitor and 
companion, and he alluded to this time in his poem 
of '' Mount Vernon," when he said, — 

♦•Twas mine, return'd from Europe's courts 
To share his thoughts, partake his sports. ' ' 

When Washington was accused of cruelty in the 
Asgill case, Humphreys published an account of the 
affair, completely vindicating his friend, for which he 
was warmly thanked. He was frequently urged to 
come to Mount Vernon, and Washington on one 
occasion lamented "the cause which has deprived 
us of your aid in the attack of Christmas pies," and 
on another assured Humphreys of his " great pleas- 
ure [when] I received the intimation of your spend- 

224 



i^*^ //it//. 
pv^ / ''' '"" ^ " r -^ • ■ - - / 



^ 



WASHINGTON I-'A.MIIA 



FRIENDS 

ing the winter under this Roof. The invitation was 
not less sincere, than the reception will be cordial. 
The only stipulations I shall contend for are, that in 
all things you shall do as you please — I will do the 
same ; and that no ceremony may be used or any 
restraint be imposed on any one." Humphreys was 
visiting him when the notification of his election as 
President was received, and was the only person, 
except servants, who accompanied Washington to 
New York. Here he continued for a time to give 
his assistance, and was successively appointed Indian 
commissioner, informal agent to Spain, and finally 
Minister to Portugal. While holding this latter 
position Washington wrote to him, "When you 
shall think with the poet that ' the post of honor is a 
private station' — & may be inclined to enjoy your- 
self in my shades ... I can only tell you that you 
will meet with the same cordial reception at Mount 
Vernon that you have always experienced at that 
place," and when Humphreys answered that his 
coming marriage made the visit impossible, Wash- 
ington replied, ''The desire of a companion in my 
latter days, in whom I could confide . . . induced 
me to express too strongly . . . the hope of having 
you as an inmate." On the death of Washington, 
Humphreys published a poem expressing the deep- 
est affection and admiration for '' my friend." 

The longest and closest connection was that with 
Hamilton. This very young and obscure officer 
attracted Washington's attention in the campaign 
of 1776, early in the next year was appointed to 
the staff, and quickly became so much a favorite 
15 225 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

that Washington spoke of him as "my boy." 
Whatever friendHness this imphed was not, how- 
ever, reciprocated by Hamilton. After four years of 
service, he resigned, under circumstances to which 
he pledged Washington to secrecy, and then him- 
self, in evident irritation, wrote as follows : 

" Two days ago, the General and I passed each other on the stairs. 
He told me he wanted to speak to me. I answered that I would 
wait upon him immediately. I went below, and delivered Mr. 
Tilghman a letter to be sent to the commissary, containing an order 
of a pressing and interesting nature. Returning to the General, I 
was stopped on the way by the Marquis de Lafayette, and we con- 
versed together about a minute on a matter of business. He can 
testify how impatient I was to get back, and that I left him in a 
manner which, but for our intimacy would have been more than 
abrupt. Instead of finding the General, as is usual, in his room, I 
met him at the head of the stairs, where, accosting me in an angry 
tone, * Colonel Hamilton, ' said he ' you have kept me waiting at the 
head of the stairs these ten minutes. I must tell you, sir, you treat 
me with disrespect.' I replied without petulancy, but with decision : 
' I am not conscious of it, sir ; but since you have thought it neces- 
sary to tell me so, we part.' ' Very well, sir,' said he, * if it be your 
choice,' or something to this effect, and we separated. I sincerely 
believe my absence, which gave so much umbrage, did not last two 
minutes. In less than an hour after, Tilghman came to me in the 
General's name, assuring me of his great confidence in my abilities, 
integrity, usefulness, etc., and of his desire, in a candid conversation, 
to heal a difference which could not have happened but in a moment 
of passion. I requested Mr. Tilghman to tell him — 1st. That I had 
taken my resolution in a manner not to be revoked. . . . Thus we 
stand. . . . Perhaps you may think I was precipitate in rejecting the 
overture made by the General to an accomodation. I assure you, 
my d(iar sir, it was not the effect of resentment ; it was the deliberate 
result of maxims I had long formed for the government of my own 
conduct. ... I believe you know the place I held in the General's 
confidence and counsels, which will make more extraordinary to you 
to learn that for three years past I have felt no friendship for him and 
have professed none. The truth is, our dispositions are the opposites 
of each other, and the pride of my temper would not sufifer me to 

226 



FRIENDS 

profess what I did not feel. Indeed, when advances of this kind 
have been made to me on his part, they were received in a manner 
that showed at least that I had no desire to court them, and that I 
desired to stand rather upon a footing of military confidence than 
of private attachment." 

Had Washington been the man this letter de- 
scribed he would nev^er have forgiven this treatment. 
On the contrary, only two months later, when com- 
pelled to refuse for military reasons a favor Hamilton 
asked, he said that ** my principal concern arises from 
an apprehension that you will impute my refusal to 
your request to other motives." On this refusal 
Hamilton enclosed his commission to Washington, 
but **Tilghman came to me in his name, pressed me 
to retain my commission, w4th an assurance that he 
would endeavor, by all means, to give me a com- 
mand." Later Washington did more than Hamilton 
himself had asked, when he gave him the leading of 
the storming party at Yorktown, a post envied by 
every officer in the army. 

Apparently this generosity lessened Hamilton's 
resentment, for a correspondence on public affairs 
was maintained from this time on, though Madison 
stated long after "that Hamilton often spoke dis- 
paragingly of Washington's talents, particularly after 
the Revolution and at the first part of the presi- 
dentcy," and Benjamin Rush confirms this by a note 
to the effect that '* Hamilton often spoke with con- 
tempt of General Washington. He said that . . . 
his heart was a stone." The rumor of the ill feeling 
was turned to advantage by Hamilton's political 
opponents in 1787, and compelled the former to 

227 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

appeal to Washington to save him from the injury 
the story was doing. In response Washington 
wrote a letter intended for public use, in which he 
said, — 

*' As you say it is insinuated by some of your political adversaries, 
and may obtain credit, ' that you palmed yourself upon me, and was 
dismissed from my family,' and call upon me to do you justice by a 
recital of the facts, I do therefore explicitly declare, that both charges 
are entirely unfounded. "With respect to the first, I have no cause 
to believe, that you took a single step to accomplish, or had the most 
distant idea of receiving an appointment in my family till you were 
invited in it ; and, with respect to the second, that your quitting it 
was altogether the effect of your own choice. ' ' 

With the appointment as Secretary of the Treas^ 
ury warmer feelings were developed. Hamilton 
became the President's most trusted official, and was 
tireless in the aid he gave his superior. Even after 
he left office he performed many services equivalent 
to official ones, for which Washington did "not 
know how to thank" him "sufficiently," and the 
President leaned on his judgment to an otherwise 
unexampled extent. This service produced affection 
and respect, and in 1792 Washington wrote from 
Mount Vernon, "We have learnt . . . that you 
have some thoughts of taking a trip this way. I 
felt pleasure at hearing it, and hope it is unnecessary 
to add, that it would be considerably increased by 
seeing you under this roof; for you may be assured 
of the sincere and affectionate regard of yours, &c." 
and signed other letters " always and affectionately 
yours," or "very affectionately," while Hamilton 
reciprocated by sending " affectionate attachment." 

228 



FRIENDS 

On being appointed lieutenant-general in 1798, 
Washington at once sought the aid of Hamilton for 
the highest position under him, assuring the Secretary 
of War that '* of the abilities and fitness of the 
gentleman you have named for a high command in 
the provisional army, I think as you do, and that his 
services ought to be secured at almost any price." 
To this the President, who hated Hamilton, objected, 
but Washington refused to take the command unless 
this wish was granted, and Adams had to give way. 
They stood in this relation when Washington died, 
and almost the last letter he penned was to this 
friend. On learning of the death, Hamilton wrote 
of **our beloved Commander-in-chief," — 

"The very painful event . . . filled my heart with bitterness. 
Perhaps no man in this community has equal cause with myself to 
deplore the loss. I have been much indebted to the kindness of the 
General, and he was an yEgis very essential to me. But regrets are 
unavailing. For great misfortunes it is the business of reason to 
seek consolation. The friends of General Washington have very 
noble ones. If virtue can secure happiness in another world, he is 
happy." 

Knox was the earliest army friend of those who 
rose to the rank of general, and was honored by 
Washington with absolute trust. After the war the 
two corresponded, and Knox expressed "■ unalterable 
affection" for the ''thousand evidences of your friend- 
ship." He was appointed Secretary of War in the 
first administration, and in taking command of the 
provisional army Washington secured his appoint- 
ment as a major-general, and at this time asserted 
that, " with respect to General Knox I can say with 

229 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

truth there is no man in the United States with 
whom I have been in habits of greater intimacy, no 
one whom I have loved m.ore sincerely nor any for 
whom I have had a greater friendship." 

Greene was perhaps the closest to Washington of 
all the generals, and their relations might be dwelt 
upon at much length. But the best evidence of 
friendship is in Washington's treatment of a story in- 
volving his financial honesty, of which he said, " per- 
suaded as I always have been of Genl Greene's in- 
tegrity and worth, I spurned those reports which 
tended to calumniate his conduct . . . being per- 
fectly convinced that whenever the matter should be 
investigated, his motives . . . would appear pure and 
unimpeachable." When on Greene's death Wash- 
ington heard that his family was left in embarrassed 
circumstances, he offered, if Mrs. Greene would ''en- 
trust my namesake G. Washington Greene to my 
care, I will give him as good an education as this 
country (I mean the United States) will afford, and 
will bring him up to either of the genteel professions 
that his frds. may chuse, or his own inclination shall 
lead him to pursue, at my own cost & expence." 

For " Light-horse Harry" Lee an affection more 
like that given to the youngsters of the staff was 
felt. Long after the.- war was over, Lee began a 
letter to him " Dear General," and then continued, — • 



" Although the exalted station, which your love of us and our love 
of you has placed you in, calls for change in mode of address, yet I 
cannot so quickly relinquish the old manner. Your military rank 
holds its place in my mind, notwithstanding your civic glory ; and, 
whenever I do abandon the title which used to distinguish you, I 
" 230 



FRIENDS 

shall do it with awkwardness. . . . My reluctance to trespass a 
moment on your time would have operated to a further procrastina- 
tion of my wishes, had I not been roused above every feehng of 
ceremony by the heart rending intelligence, received yesterday, that 
your life was despaired of. Had I had wings in the moment, I 
should have wafted myself to your bedside, only again to see the first 
of men ; but alas ! despairing as I was, from the account received, 
after the affliction of one day and night, I was made most happy by 
receiving a letter, now before me from New York, announcing the 
restoration of your health. May heaven preserve it !" 

It was Lee who first warned Washington that 
Jefferson was slandering him in secret, and who kept 
him closely informed as to the political manoeuvres 
in Virginia. Washington intrusted to him the com- 
mand of the army in the Whiskey Insurrection, and 
gave him an appointment in the provisional army. 
Lee was in Congress when the death of the great 
American was announced to that body, and it was 
he who coined the famous " First in war, first in 
peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." 

As need hardly be said, however, the strongest 
affection among the general officers was that be- 
tween Washington and Lafayette. In the advent 
of this young Frenchman the commander saw only 
*'embarassment," but he received "the young vol- 
unteer," so Lafayette said, "in the most friendly 
manner," invited him to reside in his house as a 
member of his military family, and as soon as he 
came to know him he recommended Congress to 
give him a command. As Lafayette became pop- 
ular with the army, an endeavor was made by the 
Cabal to win him to their faction by bribing him 
with an appointment to lead an expedition against 
Canada, independent of control by Washington. 

231 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Lafayette promptly declined the command, unless 
subject to the General, and furthermore he "braved 
the whole party (Cabal) and threw them into con- 
fusion by making them drink the health of their 
general." At the battle of Monmouth Washington 
gave the command of the attacking party to Lafa- 
yette, and after the conflict the two, according to 
the latter, ** passed the night lying on the same 
mantle, talking." In the same way Washington 
distinguished him by giving him the command of 
the expedition to rescue Virginia from Cornwallis, 
and to his division was given the most honorable 
position at Yorktown. When the siege of that 
place was completed, Lafayette applied for leave of 
absence to spend the winter in France, and as he 
was on the point of sailing he received a personal 
letter from Washington, for "I owe it to friendship 
and to my affectionate regard for you my dear Mar- 
quis, not to let you leave this country without carry- 
ing fresh marks of my attachment to you," and in 
his absence Washington wrote that a mutual friend 
who bore a letter '* can tell you more forcibly, than 
I can express how much we all love and wish to 
embrace you." 

A reunion came in 1784, looked forward to by 
Lafayette with an eagerness of which he wrote, " by 
Sunday or Monday, I hope at last to be blessed with 
a sight of my dear General. There is no rest for 
me till I go to Mount Vernon. I long for the pleas- 
ure to embrace you, my dear General ; and the 
happiness of being once more with you will be so 
great, that no words can ever express it. Adieu, 

232 



FRIENDS 

my dear General ; in a few days I shall be at Mount 
Vernon, and I do already feel delighted with so 
charming a prospect" After this visit was over 
Washington wrote, **In the moment of our separa- 
tion, upon the road as I travelled, and every hour 
since, I have felt all that love, respect and attach- 
ment for you, with which length of years, close con- 
nexion, and your merits have inspired me. I often 
asked myself, as our carriages separated, whether 
that was the last sight I ever should have of you ?" 
And to this letter Lafayette replied, — 

" No my beloved General, our late parting was not by any means 
a last interview. My whole soul revolts at the idea ; and could 
I harbour it an instant, indeed, my dear General, it would make me 
miserable. I well see you will never go to France. The inexpres- 
sible pleasure of embracing you in my own house, of welcoming you 
in a family where your name is adored, I do not much expect to 
experience ; but to you I shall return, and, within the walls of Mount 
Vernon, we shall yet speak of olden times. My firm plan is to visit 
now and then my friend on this side of the Atlantic ; and the most 
beloved of all friends I ever had, or ever shall have anywhere, is too 
strong an inducement for me to return to him, not to think that 
whenever it is possible I shall renew my so pleasing visits to Mount 
Vernon. . . . Adieu, adieu, my dear General. It is with inexpres- 
sible pain that I feel I am going to be severed from you by the 
Atlantic. Everything, that admiration, respect, gratitude, friendship, 
and fillial love, can inspire, is combined in my affectionate heart to 
devote me most tenderly to you. In your friendship I find a delight 
which words cannot express. Adieu, my dear General, It is not 
without emotion that I write this word, although I know I shall soon 
visit you again. Be attentive to your health. Let me hear from you 
every month. Adieu, adieu." 

The correspondence begged was maintained, but 
Lafayette complained that *' To one who so tenderly 
loves you, who so happily enjoyed the times we have 

233 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

passed together, and who never, on any part of the 
globe, even in his own house, could feel himself so 
perfectly at home as in your family, it must be con- 
fessed that an irregular, lengthy correspondence is 
quite insufficient I beseech you, in the name of 
our friendship, of that paternal concern of yours for 
my happiness, not to miss any opportunity to let me 
hear from my dear General." 

One letter from Washington told Lafayette of his 
recovery from a serious illness, and Lafayette re- 
sponded, " What could have been my feelings, had 
the news of your illness reached me before I knew 
my beloved General, my adopted father, was out of 
danger? I was struck at the idea of the situation 
you have been in, while I, uninformed and so distant 
from you, was anticipating the long-waited-for pleas- 
ure to hear from you, and the still more endearing 
prospect of visiting you and presenting you the 
tribute of a revolution, one of your first offsprings. 
For God's sake, my dear General, take care of your 
health !" 

Presently, as the French Revolution gathered force, 
the anxiety was reversed, Washington writing that 
"The lively interest which I take in your welfare, 
my dear Sir, keeps my mind in constant anxiety for 
your personal safet>\" This fear was only too well 
founded, for shortly after Lafayette was a captive in 
an Austrian prison and his wife was appealing to her 
husband's friend for help. Our ministers were told 
to do all they could to secure his libert}% and Wash- 
ington wrote a personal letter to the Emperor of 
A-Ustria. Before receiving her letter, on the first 

234 



FRIExNDS 

news of the "truly affecting" condition of **poor 
Madame Lafayette," he had written to her his sym- 
pathy, and, supposing that money was needed, had 
deposited at Amsterdam two hundred guineas '* sub- 
ject to your orders." 

When she and her daughters joined her husband 
in prison, Lafayette's son, and Washington's god- 
son, came to America ; an arrival of which the god- 
father wrote that, " to express all the sensibility, 
which has been excited in my breast by the receipt 
of young Lafayette's letter, from the recollection of 
his father's merits, services, and sufferings, from my 
friendship for him, and from my wishes to become a 
friend and father to his son is unnecessary." The 
lad became a member of the family, and a visitor at 
this time records that " I was particularly struck with 
the marks of affection which the General showed 
his pupil, his adopted son of Marquis de Lafayette. 
Seated opposite to him, he looked at him with 
pleasure, and listened to him with manifest interest." 
With Washington he continued till the jfinal release 
of his father, and a simple business note in Washing- 
ton's ledger serves to show both his delicacy and 
his generosity to the boy : ** By Geo. W. Fayette, 
gave for the purpose of his getting himself such 
small articles of Clothing as he might not choose to 
ask for ;^ioo." Another item in the accounts was 
three hundred dollars *'to defray his exps. to France," 
and by him Washington sent a line to his old friend, 
saying, " this letter I hope and expect will be pre- 
sented to you by your son, who is highly deserving 
of such parenjte as you and your amiable lady." 

235 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Long previous to this, too, a letter had been sent to 
Virginia Lafayette, couched in the following terms : 

"Permit me to thank my dear little correspondent for the favor 
of her letter of the i8 of June last, and to impress her with the 
idea of the pleasure I shall derive from a continuance of them. 
Her papa is restored to her with all the good health, paternal affec- 
tion, and honors, which her tender heart could wish. He will carry 
a kiss to her from me (which might be more agreeable from a pretty 
boy), and give her assurances of the affectionate regard with which I 
have the pleasure of being her well-wisher, 

George Washington." 

In this connection it is worth glancing at Wash- 
ington's relations with children, the more that it has 
been frequently asserted that he had no liking for 
them. As already shown, at different times he 
adopted or assumed the expenses and charge of not 
less than nine of the children of his kith and kin, 
and to his relations with children he seldom wrote a 
letter without a line about the "Httle ones." His 
kindnesses to the sons of Ramsay, Craik, Greene, and 
Lafayette have already been noticed. Furthermore, 
whenever death or illness came among the children 
of his friends there was sympathy expressed. Dumas 
relates of his visit to Providence with Washington, 
that "we arrived there at night; the whole of the 
population had assembled from the suburbs ; we 
were surrounded by a crowd of children carrying 
torches, reiterating the acclamations of the citizens ; 
all were eager to approach the person of him whom 
they called their father, and pressed so closely around 
us that they hindered us from proceeding. General 
Washington was much affected, stopped a few 

236 



FRIENDS 

moments, and, pressing my hand, said, 'We may 
be beaten by the EngHsh ; it is the chance of 
war ; but behold an army which they can never 
conquer.' " 

In his journey through New England, not being 
able to get lodgings at an inn, Washington spent a 
night in a private house, and when all payment was 
refused, he wrote his host from his next stopping- 
place, — 

♦* Being informed that you have given my name to one of your 
sons, and called another after Mrs. Washington's family, and being 
moreover very much pleased with the modest and innocent looks of 
your two daughters, Patty and Polly, I do for these reasons send 
each of these girls a piece of chintz ; and to Patty, who bears the 
name of Mrs. Washington, and who waited upon us more than Polly 
did, I send five guineas, with which she may buy herself any little 
ornaments she may want, or she may dispose of them in any other 
manner more agreeable to herself. As I do not give these things 
with a view to have it talked of, or even of its being known, the less 
there is said about the matter the better you will please me ; but, 
that I may be sure the chintz and money have got safe to hand, let 
Patty, who I dare say is equal to it, write me a line informing me 
thereof, directed to 'The President of the United States at New 
York.'" 

Miss Stuart relates that '* One morning while Mr. 
Washington was sitting tor his picture, a little brother 
of mine ran into the room, when my father thinking 
it would annoy the General, told him he must leave ; 
but the General took him upon his knee, held him 
for some time, and had quite a little chat with him, 
and, in fact, they seemed to be pleased with each 
other. My brother remembered with pride, as 
long as he lived, that Washington had talked with 
him." 

237 



THE TRUE GEORCxE WASHINGTON 

For the son of his secretary, Lear, there seems to 
have been great fondness, and in one instance the 
father was told that ^' It gave Mrs. Washington, my- 
self and all who know him, sincere pleasure to hear 
that our little favorite had arrived safe, and was in 
good health at Portsmouth. We sincerely wish him 
a long continuance of the latter — that he may always 
be as charming and promising as he now is — and 
that he may live to be a comfort and blessing to you, 
and an ornament to his country. As a testimony of 
my affection for him I send him a ticket in the lottery 
which is now drawing in the Federal City ; and if it 
should be his fortune to draw the hotel it will add to 
the pleasure I have in giving it." A second letter 
condoled with ** little Lincoln," because owing to 
the collapse of the lottery the "poor little fellow" 
will not even get enough to ** build him a baby 
house." 

For the father, Tobias Lear, who came into his 
employment in 1786 and remained with him till his 
death, Washington felt the greatest affection and 
trust. It was he who sent for the doctor in the 
beginning of the last illness, and he was in the sick- 
room most of the time. Holding Washington's 
hand, he received from him his last orders, and later 
when Washington "appeared to be in great pain 
and distress from the difficulty of breathing ... I 
lay upon the bed and endeavored to raise him, and 
turn him with as much ease as possible. He ap- 
peared penetrated with gratitude for my attentions, 
and often said * I am afraid I shall fatigue you too 
much.'" Still later Lear "aided him all in my 

S38 



FRIENDS 

power, and was gratified in believing he felt it ; for 
he would look upon me with eyes speaking gratitude, 
but unable to utter a word without great distress." 
At the final moment Lear took his hand " and laid 
it upon his breast." Wh'-,n all was over, ** I kissed 
the cold hand, laid it down, and was . . . lost in 
profound grief." 



»39 



-v 



ENEMIES 



Any man of force is to be known quite as much 
by the character of his enemies as by that of his 
friends, and this is true of Washington. The sub- 
ject offers some difficulties, for most of his ene- 
mies later in life went out of their way to deny all 
antagonism, and took pains to destroy such proof 
as they could come at of ill-feeling towards him. 
Yet enough remains to show who were in opposition 
to him, and on what grounds. 

The first of those now known to be opposed to 
him was George Muse, lieutenant-colonel in 1754 
under Washington. At Fort Necessity he was guilty 
of cowardice, he was discharged in disgrace, and 
his name was omitted from the Assembly's vote of 
thanks to the regiment. Stung by this action, he 
took his revenge in a manner related by Peyroney, 
who wrote Washington, — 

** Many enquired to me about Muse's Braveries, poor Body I had 
pity him ha'nt he had the weakness to Confes his Coardise himself, 
& the impudence to taxe all the reste of the oficers without exception 
of the same imperfection for he said to many of the Consulars and 
Burgeses that he was Bad But th' the reste was as Bad as he — To 
speak francly, had I been in town at that time I cou'nt help'd to 
make use of my horses [whip] whereas for to vindicate the injury of 
that vilain. He Contrived his Business so that several ask me if it 
was true that he had Challeng'd you to tight : My Answer was no 

2dO 



ENEMIES 

other But that he should rather chuse to go to hell than doing of it 
— for he had Such thing declar'd : that was his Sure Road." 

Washington seems to have cherished no personal 
ill-will for Muse's conduct, and when the division of 
the ''bounty lands" was being pushed, he used his 
influence that the broken officer should receive a 
quotum. Not knowing this, or else being ungrate- 
ful. Muse seems to have written a letter to Washing- 
ton which angered him, for he replied, — 

♦' Sir, Your impertinent letter was delivered to me yesterday. As 
I am not accustomed to receive such from any man, nor would have 
taken the same language from you personally, without letting you 
feel some marks of my resentment, I would advise you to be cautious 
in writing me a second of the same tenor. But for your stupidity 
and sottishness you might have known, by attending to the public 
gazette, that you had your full quantity of ten thousand acres of land 
allowed you, that is, nine thousand and seventy-three acres in the 
great tract, and the remainder in the small tract. But suppose you 
had really fallen short, do you think your superlative merit entitles 
you to greater indulgence than others ? Or, if it did, that I was to 
make it good to you, when it was at the option of the Governor and 
Council to allow but five hundred acres in the whole, if they had 
been so inclined? If either of these should happen to be your 
opinion, I am very well convinced that you will be singular in it ; 
and all my concern is, that I ever engaged in behalf of so ungrateful 
a fellow as you are. But you may still be in need of my assistance, 
as I can inform you, that your affairs, in respect to these lands, do 
not stand upon so solid a basis as you imagine, and this you may take 
by way of hint. I wrote to you a few days ago concerning the other 
distribution, proposing an easy method of dividing our lands ; but 
since I find in what temper you are, I am sorry I took the trouble 
of mentioning the land or your name in a letter, as I do not think 
you merit the least assistance from me." 

The Braddock campaign brought acquaintance 
with one which did not end in friendship, however 
16 241 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

amicable the beginning. There can be Httle doubt 
that there was cameraderie with the then Lieutenant- 
Colonel Gage, for in 1773, when in New York for 
four days, Washington ''Dined with Gen. Gage," 
and also " dined at the entertainment given by the 
citizens of New York to Genl. Gage." When next 
intercourse was resumed, it was by formal corre- 
spondence between the commanders-in-chief of two 
hostile armies, Washington inquiring as to the treat- 
ment of prisoners, and as a satisfactory reply was 
not obtained, he wrote again, threatening retaliation, 
and " closing my correspondence with you, perhaps 
forever," — a letter which Charles Lee thought "a 
very good one, but Gage certainly deserved a 
stronger one, such as it was before it was softened." 
One cannot but wonder what part the old friendship 
played in this ''softening." 

Relations with the Howes began badly by a letter 
from Lord Howe addressed " George Washington, 
Esq.," which Washington declined to receive as 
not recognizing his official position. A second one 
to " George Washington, Esq. &c. &c. &c." met 
with the same fate, and brought the British officer 
*' to change my superscription." A little after this 
brief war of forms, a letter from Washington to his 
wife was intercepted with others by the enemy, and 
General Howe enclosed it, "happy to return it with- 
out the least attempt being made to discover any 
part of the contents." This courtesy the American 
commander presently was able to reciprocate by 
sending " General Washington's compliments to 
General Howe, — does himself the pleasure to return 

242 



ENEMIES 

to him a dog, which accidentally fell into his hands, 
and, by the inscription on the collar, appears to be- 
long to General Howe." Even politeness had its 
objections, however, at moments, and Washington 
once had to write Sir William, — 

** There is one passage o,. your letter, which I cannot forbear 
taking particular notice of. No expression of personal politeness 
to me can be acceptable, accompanied by reflections on the repre- 
sentatives of a free people, under whose authority I have the honor 
to act. The delicacy I have observed, in refraining from everything 
offensive in this way, entitles me to expect a similar treatment from 
you. I have not indulged myself in invective against the present 
rulers of Great Britain, in the course of our correspondence, nor 
will I even now avail myself of so fruitful a theme." 

Apparently when Sir Henry Clinton succeeded to 
the command of the British army the same old de- 
vice to insult the General was again tried, for Dumas 
states that Washington " received a despatch from 
Sir Henry CHnton, addressed to 'Mr. Washington.' 
Taking it from the hands of the flag of truce, and 
seeing the direction, 'This letter,' said he, ' is directed 
to a planter of the state of Virginia. I shall have 
it delivered to him after the end of the war ; till that 
time it shall not be opened.' A second despatch 
was addressed to his Excellency General Washing- 
ton." A better lesson in courtesy was contained in 
a letter from Washington to him, complaining of 
"wanton, unprecedented and inhuman murder," 
which closed with the following : " I beg your Ex- 
cellency to be persuaded, that it cannot be more 
disagreeable to you to be addressed in this language, 
than it is to me to offer it ; but the subject requires 
frankness and decision." 

243 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Quite as firm was one addressed to Cornwallis, 
which read, — 

"It is with infinite regret, I am again compelled to remonstrate 
against that spirit of wanton cruelty, that has in several instances 
influenced the conduct of your soldiery. A recent exercise of it 
towards an unhappy officer of ours, Lieutenant Harris, convinces me, 
that my former representations on this subject have been unavailing. 
That Gentleman by the fortunes of war, on Saturday last was thrown 
into the hands of a party of your horse, and unnecessarily murdered 
with the most aggravated circumstances of barbarity. I wish not to 
wound your Lordship's feelings, by commenting on this event ; but 
I think it my duty to send his mangled body to your lines as an 
undeniable testimony of the fact, should it be doubted, and as 
the best appeal to your humanity for the justice of our complaint." 

A pleasanter intercourse came with the surrender 
of Yorktown, after which not merely were Cornwallis 
and his officers saved the mortification of surrender- 
ing their swords, but the chief among them were 
entertained at dinner by Washington. At this 
meal, so a contemporary account states, " Rocham- 
beau, being asked for a toast, gave * The United 
States' Washington gave * The King of France.' 
"Lord Cornwallis, simply * The King ;' but Wash- 
ington, putting that toast, added, * of England,' 
and facetiously, 'confine him there, P II drink him 
a full bumper^ filling his glass till it ran over. 
Rochambeau, with great politeness, was still so 
French, that he would every now and then be touch- 
ing on points that were improper, and a breach of 
real politeness. Washington often checked him, 
and showed in a more saturnine manner, the infinite 
esteem he had for his gallant prisoner, whose private 
qualities the Americans admired even in a foe, that 

244 




MRS. WASHINGTON 



ENEMIES 

had so often filled them with the most cruel alarms." 
Many years later, when Cornwallis was governor- 
general of India, he sent a verbal message to his old 
foe, wishing " General Washington a long enjoyment 
of tranquility and happiness," adding that for him- 
self he " continued in troubled waters." 

Turning from these public rather than personal 
foes, a very different type of enemies is encountered 
in those inimical to Washington in his own army. 
Chief of these was Horatio Gates, with whom Wash- 
ington had become acquainted in the Braddock 
campaign, and with whom there was friendly inter- 
course from that time until the Revolution. In 1775, 
at Washington's express solicitation. Gates was ap- 
pointed adjutant- and brigadier-general, and in a 
letter thanking Washington for the favor he professed 
to have *'the greatest respect for your character and 
the sincerest attachment to your person." Never- 
theless, he very early in the war suggested that a 
committee of Congress be sent to camp to keep watch 
on Washington, and as soon as he was in a separate 
command he began to curry favor with Congress 
and scheme against his commander. This was not 
unknown to Washington, who afterwards wrote, *' I 
discovered very early in the war symptoms of cold- 
ness & constraint in General Gates' behavior to me. 
These increased as he rose into greater conse- 
quence." 

When Burgoyne capitulated to Gates, he sent the 
news to Congress and not to Washington, and 
though he had no further need for troops the com- 
mander-in-chief had sent him, he endeavored to 

245 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

prevent their return at a moment when every man 
was needed in the main army. His attitude towards 
Washington was so notorious that his friends curried 
favor with him by letters criticising the commander, 
and when, by chance, the General learned of the 
contents of one of these letters, and news to that 
effect reached the ears of Gates, he practically 
charged Washington with having obtained his knowl- 
edge by dishonorable means ; but Washington more 
than repaid the insult, in telling Gates how he had 
learned of the affair, by adding that he had " con- 
sidered the information as coming from yourself, 
and given with a friendly view to forewarn and con- 
sequently forearm me, against a secret enemy . . . 
but in this, as in other matters of late, I have found 
myself mistaken." Driven to the wall. Gates wrote 
to Washington a denial that the letter contained the 
passage in question, which was an absolute lie, and 
this untruth typifies his character. Without ex-^ 
pressing either belief or disbelief in this denial, 
Washington replied, — 

•♦I am as averse to controversy as any man, and had I not been 
forced into it, you never would have had occasion to impute to me, 
even the shadow of disposition towards it. Your repeatedly and 
solemnly disclaiming any ofifensive views in those matters, which 
have been the subject of our past correspondence makes me willing 
to close with the desire, you express, of burying them hereafter in 
silence, and, as far as future events will permit, oblivion. My temper 
leads me to peace and harmony with all men ; and it 13 peculiarly 
my wish to avoid any personal feuds or dissentions with those who 
are embarked in the same great national interest with myself; as 
every difference of this kind must in its consequence be very 
injurious." 

After this affair subsided, Washington said, — 
246 



ENEMIES 

"I made a point of treating Gen. Gates with all the attention and 
cordiality in my power, as well from a sincere desire of harmony, as 
from an unwillingness to give any cause of triumph among ourselves. 
I can appeal to the world, and to the whole army, whether I have 
not cautiously avoided offending Gen. Gates in any way. I am sorry 
his conduct to me has not been equally generous, and that he is con- 
tinually giving me fresh proofs of malevolence and opposition. It 
will not be doing him injustice to say, that, besides the little under- 
hand intrigues which he is frequently practising, there has hardly 
been any great military question, in which his advice has been asked, 
that it has not been given in an equivocal and designing manner, ap- 
parently calculated to afford him an opportunity of censuring me, on 
the failure of whatever measures might be adopted. ' ' 

After the defeat of Gates at Camden, the Prince 
de Broglie wrote that " I saw General Gates at the 
house of General Washington, with whom he had had 
a misunderstanding. . . . This interview excited the 
curiosity of both armies. It passed with a most 
perfect propriety on the part of both gentlemen. 
Mr. Washington treated Mr. Gates with a politeness 
which had a frank and easy air, while the other re- 
sponded with that shade of respect which was proper 
towards his general." And how fair-minded Wash- 
ington was is shown by his refusal to interfere in an 
army matter, because, "considering the delicate situ- 
ation in which I stand with respect to General Gates, 
I feel an unwillingness to give any opinion (even in 
a confidential way) in a matter in which he is con- 
cerned, lest my sentiments (being known) should 
have unfavorable interpretations ascribed to them by 
illiberal Minds," Yet the friendship was never re- 
stored, and when the two after the war were associ- 
ated in the Potomac company, Washington's sense 
of the old treachery was still so keen that he alluded 

247 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

to the appointment of " my bosom friend Genl 
G-tes, who being at Richmond, contrived to edge 
himself in to the commission." 

Thomas Conway was Washington's traducer to 
Gates. He was an Irish-French soldier of fortune who 
unfortunately had been made a brigadier-general in 
the Continental army. Having made friends of the 
New England delegates in Congress, it was then pro- 
posed by them to advance him to the rank of major- 
general, which Washington opposed, on the grounds 
that " his merit and importance exist more in his 
imagination than in reality." For the moment this 
was sufficient to prevent Conway's promotion, and 
even if he had not before been opposed to his com- 
mander, he now became his bitter enemy. To more 
than Gates he said or wrote, " A great & good God 
has decreed that America shall be free, or Washing- 
ton and weak counsellors would have ruined her long 
ago." Upon word of this reaching Washington, so 
Laurens tells, **The genl immediately copied the 
contents of the paper, introducing them with 'sir,' 
and concluding with, ' I am your humble servt,' and 
sent this copy in the form of a letter to Genl Con- 
way. This drew an answer, in which he first at- 
tempts to deny the fact, and then in a most shame- 
less manner, to explain away the matter. The 
perplexity of his style, and evident insincerity of 
his compliments, betray his weak sentiments, and 
expose his guilt." 

Yet, though detected, Conway complained to the 
Continental Congress that Washington was not 
treating him properly, and in reply to an in- 

248 



ENEMIES 

quiry from a member the General acknowledged 
that,— 

*' If General Conway means by cool receptions mentioned in the 
last paragraph of his letter of the 31st ultimo, that I did not receive 
him in the language of a warm and cordial friend, I readily confess 
the charge. I did not, nor shall I ever, till I am capable of the arts 
of dissimulation. These I despise, and my feeUngs will not permit 
me to make professions of friendship to the man I deem my enemy, 
and whose system of conduct forbids it. At the same time, truth 
authorizes me to say, that he was received and treated with proper 
respect to his official character, and that he has had no cause to 
justify the assertion, that he could not expect any support for fulfilling 
the duties of his appointment." 

In spite of Washington's opposition, Conway's 
friends were numerous enough in the Congress 
finally to elect him major-general, at the same time 
appointing him inspector-general. Elated with this 
evident partiality of the majority of that body for 
him, he went even further, and Laurens states that 
he was guilty of a "base insult" to Washington, 
which " affects the General very sensibly," and he 
continues, — 

"It is such an affront as Conway would never have dared to offer, 
if the General's situation had not assured him of the impossibility 
of its being revenged in a private way. The Genl, therefore, has 
determined to return him no answer at all, but to lay the whole 
matter before Congress ; they will determine whether Genl W. is to 
be sacrificed to Genl. C, for the former can never consent to be con- 
cern' d in any transaction with the latter, from whom he has received 
such unpardonable insults. ' ' 

Fortunately, Conway did not limit his ** insulting 
letters" to the commander-in-chief alone, and pres- 
ently he sent one to Congress threatening to resign, 
which so angered that body that they took him at 

249 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

his word Moreover, his open abuse of Washington 
led an old-time friend of the latter to challenge him, 
and to lodge a ball, with almost poetic justice, in 
Conway's mouth. Thinking himself on the point 
of death, he wrote a farewell line to Washington 
"expressing my sincere grief for having done, written 
or said anything disagreeable to your Excellency. . . . 
You are in my eyes a great and good man." And 
with this recantation he disappeared from the army. 
A third officer in this ** cabal" was Thomas Mifflin. 
He was the first man appointed on Washington's 
staff at the beginning of the war, but did not long 
remain in that position, being promoted by Wash- 
ington to be quartermaster-general. In this posi- 
tion the rumor reached the General that Mifflin 
was '* concerned in trade," and Washington took 
"occasion to hint" the suspicion to him, only to get 
a denial from the officer. Whether this inquiry was 
a cause for ill-feeling or not, Mifflin was one of the 
most outspoken against the commander-in-chief as 
his opponents gathered force, and Washington in- 
formed Henry that he ** bore the second part in the 
cabal." Mifflin resigned from the army and took a 
position on the board of war, but when the influence 
of that body broke down with the collapse of the 
Cabal, he applied for a reappointment, — a course de- 
scribed by Washington in plain English as follows : 



*'I was not a little surprised to find a certrun gentleman, who, 
some time ago (when a cloud of darkness hung heavy over us, and 
our affairs looked gloomy,) was desirous of resigning, now stepping 
forward in the line of the army. But if he can reconcile such con- 
duct to his own feelings, as an officer and a man of honor, and Con- 

250 



ENEMIES 

gress hath no objections to his leaving his seat in another department, 
I have nothing personally to oppose it. Yet I must think, that gen- 
tleman's stepping m and out, as the sua happens to beam forth ot 
obscure, is not quite the thing, nor quite just, with respect to those 
officers, who take ye bitter with the sweet. ' ' 

Not long after Greene wrote that " I learn that 
General Mifflin has publicly declared that he looked 
upon his Excellency as the best friend he ever had 
in his life, so that is a plain sign that the Junto has 
given up all ideas of supplanting our excellent gen- 
eral from a confidence of the impracticability of such 
an attempt" 

A very minor but most malignant enemy was Dr. 
Benjamin Rush. In 1774 Washington dined with 
him in Philadelphia, which implied friendship. Very 
early in the war, however, an attempt was made to 
remove the director-general of hospitals, in which, so 
John Armstrong claimed, *' Morgan was the osten- 
sible — Rush the real prosecutor of Shippen — the 
former acting from revenge, . . . the latter from a 
desire to obtain the directorship. In approving the 
sentence of the court, Washington stigmatized the 
prosecution as one originating in bad motives, which 
made Rush his enemy and defamer as long as he 
lived." Certain it is he wrote savage letters of criti- 
cism about his commander-in-chief, of which the 
following extract is a sample : 

•* I have heard several officers who have served under General 
Gates compare his army to a well regulated family. The same gen- 
tlemen have compared Gen'l Washington's imitation of an army to 
an unformed mob. Look at the characters of both ! The one on 
the pinnacle of military glory — exulting in the success of schemes 
planned with wisdom, & executed with vigor and bravery — and 

251 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

above all see a country saved by his exertions. See the other outgen- 
eral'd and twice beated — obhged to witness the march of a body of 
men only half their number thro' 140 Miles of a thick settled coun- 
try — forced to give up a city the capitol of a state & after all out- 
witted by the same army in a retreat. ' ' 

Had Rush written only this, there would be no 
grounds for questioning his methods ; but, not con- 
tent with spreading his opinions among his friends, 
he took to anonymous letter-writing, and sent an 
unsigned letter abusing Washington to the governor 
of Virginia (and probably to others), with the re- 
quest that the letter should be burned. Instead of 
this, Henry sent it to Washington, who recognized 
at once the handwriting, and wrote to Henry that 
Rush '* has been elaborate and studied in his profes- 
sions of regard to me, and long since the letter to 
you." An amusing sequel to this incident is to 
be found in Rush moving heaven and earth on the 
publication of Marshall's ''Life of Washington" to 
prevent his name from appearing as one of the com- 
mander-in-chief's enemies. 

After the collapse of the attempt Washington 
wrote to a friend, " I thank you sincerely for the 
part you acted at York respecting C — y, and believe 
with you that matters have and will turn out very 
different to what that party expected. G — s has 
involved himself in his letters to me in the most 
absurd contradictions. M — has brought himself 
into a scrape that he does not know how to get out 
of with a gentleman of this State, and C — , as you 
know is sent upon an expedition which all the 
world knew, and the event has proved, was not 

252 



ENEMIES 

practicable. In a word, I have a good deal of reason 
to believe that the machination of this junta will 
recoil upon their own heads, and be a means of 
bringing some matters to light which, by getting me 
out of the way, some of them thought to conceal." 

Undoubtedly the most serious army antagonist 
was General Charles Lee, and, but for what seem 
almost fatalistic chances, he would have been a 
dangerous rival. He was second in command very 
early in the war, and at this time he asserted that 
*'no man loves, respects and reverences another 
more than I do General Washington. I esteem his 
virtues, private and public. I know him to be a 
man of sense, courage and firmness." But four 
months later he was lamenting Washington's " fatal 
indecision," and by inference was calling him '*a 
blunderer." In another month he wrote, ^^ entre 
710HS a certain great man is most damnably deficient." 
At this point, fortunately, Lee was captured by the 
British, so that his influence for the time being was 
destroyed. While a prisoner he drew up a plan 
for the English general, showing how America could 
be conquered. 

When he had been exchanged, and led the 
American advance at the battle of Monmouth, he 
seems to have endeavored to aid the British in an- 
other way, for after barely engaging, he ordered a 
retreat, which quickly developed into a rout, and 
would have ended in a serious defeat had not, as 
Laurens wrote, "fortunately for the honor of the 
army, and the welfare of America, Genl W^ashington 
met the troops retreating in disorder, and without 

253 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

any plan to make an opposition. He ordered some 
pieces of artillery to be brought up to defend the 
pass, and some troops to form and defend the pieces. 
The artillery was too distant to be brought up 
readily, so that there was but little opposition given 
here. A few shot though, and a little skirmishing 
in the wood checked the enemy's career. The 
Genl expressed his astonishment at this unaccount- 
able retreat. Mr. Lee indecently replied that the 
attack was contrary to his advice and opinion in 
council." 

In a fit of temper Lee wrote Washington two 
imprudent letters, expressed "in terms [so] highly 
improper" that he was ordered under arrest and 
tried by a court-martial, which promptly found him 
guilty of disobedience and disrespect, as well as of 
making a "disorderly and unnecessary retreat." To 
this Lee retorted, " I aver that his Excellencies letter 
was from beginning to the end a most abominable 
lie — I aver that my conduct will stand the strictest 
scrutiny of every military judge — I aver that my 
Court Martial was a Court of Inquisition — that there 
was not a single member with a military idea — at 
least if I may pronounce from the different questions 
they put to the evidences." 

In this connection it is of interest to note a letter 
from Washington's friend Mason, which said, "You 
express a fear that General Lee will challenge our 
friend. Indulge in no such apprehensions, for he 
too well knows the sentiments of General Washing- 
ton on the subject of duelling. From his earHest 
manhood I have heard him express his contempt of 

254 



ENEMIES 

the man who sends and the man who accepts a 
challenge, for he regards such acts as no proof of 
moral courage ; and the practice he abhors as a relic 
of old barbarisms, repugnant alike to sound morality 
and christian enlightenment." 

A little later, still smarting from this court-martial, 
Lee wrote to a newspaper a savage attack on his late 
commander, apparently in the behef, as he said in a 
private letter, that " there is ... a visible revolution 
. . . in the minds of men, I mean that our Great 
Gargantua, or Lama Babak (for I know not which 
Title is the properest) begins to be no longer con- 
sider' d as an infallible Divinity — and that those who 
have been sacrific'd or near sacrific'd on his altar, 
begin to be esteem' d as wantonly and foolishly 
offer'd up." Lee very quickly found his mistake, 
for the editor of the paper which contained his 
attack was compelled by a committee of citizens to 
publish an acknowledgment that in printing it "I 
have transgressed against truth, justice and my duty 
as a good citizen," and, as Washington wrote to a 
friend, ** the author of the Queries, * Political and 
Military,' has had no cause to exult in the favorable 
reception of them by the public." With Lee's dis- 
appearance the last army rival dropped from the 
ranks, and from that time there was no question as to 
who should command the armies of America. Long 
after, a would-be editor of Lee's papers wrote to 
Washington to ask if he had any wishes in regard 
to the publication, and was told in the reply that, — 

*'I never had a difference with that gentleman, but on public 
ground, and my conduct towards him upon this occasion was such 

25s 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

only, as I conceived myself indispensably bound to adopt in dis- 
charge of the public trust reposed in me. If this produced in 
him unfavorable sentiments of me, I yet can never consider the 
conduct I pursued, with respect to him, either wrong or improper, 
however I may regret that it may have been differently viewed by 
him, and that it excited his censure and animadversions. Should 
there appear in General Lee's writings any thing injurious or un- 
friendly to me, the impartial and dispassionate world must decide 
how far I deserved it from the general tenor of my conduct." 

These attempts to undermine Washington owed 
their real vitality to the Continental Congress, and it 
is safe to say that but for Washington's political ene- 
mies no army rival would have ventured to push for- 
ward. In what the opposition in that body consisted, 
and to what length it went, are discussed elsewhere, 
but a glance at the reasons of hostility to him is 
proper here. 

John Adams declared himself **sick of the Fabian 
systems," and in writing of the thanksgiving for the 
Saratoga Convention, he said that ** one cause of it 
ought to be that the glory of turning the tide of 
arms is not immediately due to the commander-in- 
chief ... If it had, idolatry and adulation would 
have been unbounded." James Lovell asserted that 
" Our affairs are Fabiused into a very disagreeable 
posture," and wrote that '' depend upon it for every 
ten soldiers placed under the command of our Fa- 
bius, five recruits will be wanted annually during the 
war." William Williams agreed with Jonathan Trum- 
bull that the time had come when *' a much exalted 
character should make way for a general^'' and sug- 
gested if this was not done *' voluntarily," those to 
whom the public looked should "see to it." Abraham 

256 



ENEMIES 

Clark thought "we may talk of the Enemy's Cruelty 
as we will, but we have no greater Cruelty to com- 
plain of than the Management of our Army." Jona- 
than D. Sargent asserted that "we want a general — 
thousands of Lives & Millions of Property are yearly 
sacrificed to the Insufficiency of our Commander-in- 
Chief — Two Battles he has lost for us by two such 
Blunders as might have disgraced a Soldier of three 
months standing, and yet we are so attached to this 
Man that I fear we shall rather sink with him than 
throw him off our Shoulders. And sink we must 
under his Management. Such Feebleness, & Want 
of Authority, such Confusion & Want of Discipline, 
such Waste, such destruction would exhaust the 
Wealth of both the Indies & annihilate the armies 
of all Europe and Asia." Richard Henry Lee 
agreed with Mifflin that Gates was needed to " pro- 
cure the indispensable changes in our Army." Other 
Congressmen who were inimical to Washington, either 
by openly expressed opinion or by vote, were El- 
bridge Gerry, Samuel Adams, William Elleiy, Eliph- 
alet Dyer, Roger Sherman, Samuel Chase, and F. 
L. Lee. Later, when Washington's position was 
more secure, Gerry and R. H. Lee wrote to him 
affirming their friendship, and to both \t\e General 
replied without a suggestion of ill-feeling, nor does 
he seem, in later life, to have felt a trace of personal 
animosity towards any one of the men who had been 
in opposition to him in Congress. Of this enmity 
in the army and Congress Washington wrote, — 

"It is easy to bear the first, and even the devices of private ene- 
mies whose ill will only arises from their common hatred to the cause 
V 257 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

we are engaged in, are to me tolerable ; yet, I confess, I cannot help 
feeling the most painful sensations, whenever I have reason to be- 
lieve I am the object of persecution to men, who are embarked in 
the same general interest, and whose friendship my heart does not 
reproach me with ever having done any thing to forfeit. But with 
many, it is a sufficient cause to hate and wish the ruin of a man, be- 
cause he has been happy enough to be the object of his country^ s 
favor. ' ' 

The political course of Washington while Presi- 
dent produced the alienation of the two Virginians 
whom he most closely associated with himself in the 
early part of his administration. With Madison the 
break does not seem to have come from any positive 
ill-feeling, but was rather an abandonment of inter- 
course as the differences of opinion became more 
pronounced. The disagreement with Jefferson was 
more acute, though probably never forced to an 
open rupture. To his political friends Jefferson in 
1796 wrote that the measures pursued by the ad- 
ministration were carried out ** under the sanction 
of a name which has done too much good not to be 
sufficient to cover harm also," and that he hoped 
the President's ** honesty and his political errors maji 
not furnish a second occasion to exclaim, * curse on 
his virtues, they've undone his country.' " Henry 
Lee warned Washington of the undercurrent of 
criticism, and when Jefferson heard indirectly of this 
he wrote his former chief that ** I learn that [Lee] 
has thought it worth his while to try to sow tares 
between you and me, by representing me as still en- 
gaged in the bustle of politics & in turbulence & 
intrigue against the government. I never believed 
for a moment that this could make any impression 

258 



ENEMIES 

on you, or that your knowledge of me would not 
overweigh the slander of an intriguer dirtily em- 
ployed in sifting the conversations of my table." 
To this Washington replied, — 

"As you have mentioned the subject yourself, it would not be 
frank, candid or friendly to conceal, that your conduct has been rep- 
resented as derogating from that opinion /had conceived you enter- 
tained of me ; that, to your particular friends and connexions you 
have described, and they have denounced me as a person under a 
dangerous influence ; and that, if I would listen more to some othet 
opinions, all would be well. My answer invariably has been, that I 
had never discovered any thing in the conduct of Mr. Jefferson to 
raise suspicions in my mind of his insincerity ; that, if he would re- 
trace my public conduct while he was in the administration, abundant 
proofs would occur to him, that truth and right decisions were the sole 
objects of my pursuit ; that there was as many instances within his 
own knowledge of my having decided against as in favor of the 
opinions of the person evidently alluded to ; and, I was no believer 
in the infallibility of the politics or measures of any man living. In 
short that I was no party man myself, and the first wish of my heart 
was, if parties did exist, to reconcile them." 

As proof upon proof of Jefferson's secret enmity 
accumulated, Washington ceased to trust his dis- 
claimers, and finally wrote to one of his informants, 
" Nothing short of the evidence you have adduced, 
corroborative of intimations which I had received 
long before through another channel, could have 
shaken my beHef in the sincerity of a friendship, 
which I had conceived as possessed for me by the 
person to whom you allude. But attempts to injure 
those, who are supposed to stand well in the estima- 
tion of the people, and are stumbling blocks in 
the way, by misrepresenting their political tenets, 
thereby to destroy all confidence in them, are among 

259 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

the means by which the government is to be assailed, 
and the constitution destroyed." 

Once convinced, all relations with Jefferson were 
terminated. It is interesting in this connection to 
note something repeated by Madison, to the effect 
that ** General Lafayette related to me the following 
anecdote, which I shall repeat as nearly as I can in 
his own words. 'When I last saw Mr. Jefferson,' he 
observed, ' we conversed a good deal about General 
Washington, and Mr. Jefferson expressed high ad- 
miration of his character. He remarked particularly 
that he and Hamilton often disagreed when they 
were members of the Cabinet, and that General 
Washington would sometimes favor the opinion of 
one and sometimes the other, with an apparent strict 
impartiality. And Mr. Jefferson added that, so sound 
was Washington's judgment, that he was commonly 
convinced afterwards of the accuracy of his decision, 
whether it accorded with the opinion he had him- 
self first advanced or not' " 

A third Virginian who was almost as closely asso- 
ciated was Edmund Randolph. There had been a 
friendship with his father, until he turned Tory and 
went to England, when, according to Washington's 
belief, he wrote the *' forged letters" which gave 
Washington so much trouble. For the sake of the 
old friendship, however, he gave the son a position 
on his staff, and from that time was his friend and 
correspondent. In the first administration he was 
made Attorney-General, and when Jefferson retired 
from office he became Secretary of State. In this 
position he was charged with political dishonesty. 

260 



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THE 



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EARLIEST SIGNATURE OF WASHINGTON 



ENEMIES 

Washington gave him a chance to explain, but in- 
stead he resigned from office and pubHshed what 
he called "a vindication," in which he charged the 
President with "prejudging," ** concealment," and 
"want of generosity." Continuing, he said, "never 
. . . could I have believed that in addressing you 
... I should use any other language than that of a 
friend. From my early period of life, I was taught 
to esteem you — as I advanced in years, I was 
habituated to revere you : — you strengthened my 
prepossessions by marks of attention." And in an- 
other place he acknowledged the weakness of his at- 
tack by saying, "still however, those very objections, 
the very reputation which you have acquired, will 
cause it to be asked, why you should be suspected 
of acting towards me, in any other manner, than 
deliberately, justly and even kindly?" 

In the preparation of this pamphlet Randolph 
wrote the President a letter which the latter asserted 
was "full of innuendoes," and one statement in the 
pamphlet he denounced as being " as impudent and 
insolent an assertion as it is false." And his irritation 
at this treatment from one he had always befriended 
gave rise to an incident, narrated by James Ross, at 
a breakfast at the President's, when " after a little 
while the Secretary of War came in, and said to 
Washington, ' Have you seen Mr. Randolph's pam- 
phlet?' *I have,' said Washington, *and, by the 
eternal God, he is the damnedest liar on the face of 
the earth !' and as he spoke he brought his fist 
down upon the table with all his strength, and with 
a violence which made the cups and plates start from 

261 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

their places." Fortunately, the attack was ineffec- 
tive ; indeed, Hamilton wrote that ** I consider it as 
amounting to a confession of guilt ; and I am per- 
suaded this will be the universal opinion. His at- 
tempts against you are viewed by all whom I have 
seen, as base. They will certainly fail of their aim, 
and will do good rather than harm, to the public 
cause and to yourself. It appears to me that, by 
you, no notice can be, or ought to be, taken of the 
publication. It contains its own antidote." 

Not content with this double giving up of what to 
any man of honor was confidential, Randolph, a 
little later, rested under Washington's suspicions of 
a third time breaking the seal of official secrecy by 
sending a Cabinet paper to the newspapers for no 
other purpose than to stir up feeling against Wash- 
ington. But after his former patron's death regret 
came, and Randolph wrote to Bushrod Washington, 
" If I could now present myself before your vener- 
ated uncle it would be my pride to confess my con- 
trition that I suffered my irritation, be the cause what 
it might, to use some of those expressions respecting 
him which, at this moment ... I wish to recall as 
being inconsistent with my subsequent convictions." 

Another type of enemy, more or less the result 
of this differing with Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, 
and Randolph, was sundry editors and writers who 
gathered under their patronage and received aids of 
money or of secret information. One who prospered 
for a time by abusing Washington was Philip 
Freneau. He was a college friend of Madison's, 
and was induced to undertake the task by his and 

262 



ENEMIES 

Jefferson's urging, though the latter denied this 
later. As aid to the undertaking, Jefferson, then 
Secretary of State, gave Freneau an office, and thus 
produced the curious condition of a clerk in the 
government writing and printing savage attacks on 
the President. Washington was much irritated at 
the abuse, and Jefferson in his "Anas" said that he 
** was evidently sore & warm and I took his intention 
to be that I should interpose in some way with 
Freneau, perhaps withdraw his appointment of trans- 
lating clerk to my office. But I will not do it." 
According to the French minister, some of the worst 
of these articles were written by Jefferson himself, and 
Freneau is reported to have said, late in life, that 
many of them were written by the Secretary of State. 
Far more indecent was the paper conducted by 
Benjamin Franklin Bache, who, early in the Presi- 
dency, applied for a place in the government, which 
for some reason not now known was refused. 
According to Cobbett, who hated him, "this . . . 
scoundrel . . . spent several years in hunting offices 
under the Federal Government, and being constantly 
rejected, he at last became its most bitter foe. 
Hence his abuse of General Washington, whom at 
the time he was soliciting a place he panegyrized up 
to the third heaven." Certain it is that under his 
editorship the General Advertiser and Aurora took 
the lead in all criticisms of Washington, and not 
content with these opportunities for daily and weekly 
abuse, Bache (though the fact that they were for- 
geries was notorious) reprinted the "spurious let- 
ters which issued from a certain press in New York 

263 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

during the war, with a view to destroy the confi- 
dence which the army and community might have had 
in my poHtical principles, — and which have lately 
been republished with greater avidity and persever- 
ance than ever, by Mr. Bache to answer the same 
nefarious purpose with the latter," and Washington 
added that " immense pains has been taken by this 
said Mr. Bache, who is no more than the agent or 
tool of those who are endeavoring to destroy the 
confidence of the people, in the officers of Govern- 
ment (chosen by themselves) to disseminate these 
counterfeit letters." In addition Bache wrote a 
pamphlet, with the avowal that "the design of these 
remarks is to prove the want of claim in Mr. Wash- 
ington either to the gratitude or confidence of his 
country. . . . Our chief object ... is to destroy 
undue impressions in favor of Mr. Washington.'' 
Accordingly it charged that Washington was " treach^ 
erous," *' mischievous," *' inefficient ;" dwelt upon 
his ** farce of disinterestedness," his ** stately journey- 
ings through the American continent in search of 
personal incense," his ''ostentatious professions of 
piety," his "pusillanimous neglect," his "little pas- 
sions," his "ingratitude," his "want of merit," his 
"insignificance," and his "spurious fame." 

The successor of Bache as editor of these two 
journals, William Duane, came to the office with an 
equal hatred of Washington, having already written 
a savage pamphlet against him. In this the Presi- 
dent was charged with "treacherous mazes of pas- 
sion," and with having " discharged the loathings of 
a sick mind." Furthermore it asserted "that had 

264 



ENEMIES 

you obtained promotion . . . after Braddock's de- 
feat, your sword would have been drawn against 
your country," that Washington ''retained the bar- 
barous usages of the feudal system and kept men 
in Livery," and that ** posterity will in vain search 
for the monuments of wisdom in your administra- 
tion ;" the purpose of the pamphlet, by the author's 
own statement, being **to expose the Persorial 
Idolatry into which we have been heedlessly run- 
ning," and to show the people the ** fallibility of the 
most favored of men." 

A fourth in this quartet of editors was the noto 
rious James Thomson Callender, whose publications 
were numerous, as were also his impeachments 
against Washington. By his own account, this 
writer maintained, " Mr. Washington has been twice 
a traitor," has " authorized the robbery and ruin of 
the remnants of his own army," has "broke the 
constitution," and Callender fumes over "the vile- 
ness of the adulation which has been paid" to him, 
claiming that " the extravagant popularity possessed 
by this citizen reflects the utmost ridicule on the 
discernment of America." 

The bitterest attack, however, was penned by 
Thomas Paine. For many years there was good 
feeling between the two, and in 1782, when Paine 
was in financial distress, Washington used his influ- 
ence to secure him a position " out of friendship for 
me," as Paine acknowledged. Furthermore, Wash- 
ington tried to get the Virginia Legislature to pension 
Paine or give him a grant of land, an endeavor for 
which the latter was " exceedingly obliged." When 

265 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Paine published his " Rights of Man" he dedicated 
it to Washington, with an inscription dweUing on his 
"exemplary virtue" and his ** benevolence ;" while 
in the body of the work he asserted that no monarch 
of Europe had a character to compare with Wash- 
ington's, which was such as to "put all those men 
called kings to shame." Shortly after this, however, 
Washington refused to appoint him Postmaster- 
General ; and still later, when Paine had involved 
himself with the French, the President, after consid- 
eration, decided that governmental interference was 
not proper. Enraged by these two acts, Paine pub- 
lished a pamphlet in which he charged Washington 
with " encouraging and swallowing the greatest 
adulation," with being "the patron of fraud," with 
a " mean and servile submission to the insults of one 
nation, treachery and ingratitude to another," with 
"falsehood," "ingratitude," and "pusillanimity;" 
and finally, after alleging that the General had not 
"served America with more disinterestedness or 
greater zeal, than myself, and I know not if with 
better effect," Paine closed his attack by the asser- 
tion, " and as to you, sir, treacherous in private 
friendship, and a hypocrite in public life, the world 
will be puzzled to decide, whether you are an apos- 
tate or an impostor ; whether you have abandoned 
good principles, or whether j^^^ ever had any ?" 

Washington never, in any situation, took public 
notice oi these attacks, and he wrote of a possible 
one, " I am gliding down the stream of life, and 
wish, as is natural, that my remaining days may be 
undisturbed and tranquil ; and, conscious of my in- 

266 



ENEMIES 

tegrlty, I would willingly hope, that nothing would 
occur tending to give me anxiety ; but should any- 
thing present itself in this or any other publication, 
I shall never undertake the painful task of recrimina- 
tion, nor do I know that I should even enter upon 
my justification." To a friend he said, '* my temper 
leads me to peace and harmony with all men ; and 
it is peculiarly my wish to avoid any feuds or dissen- 
tions with those who are embarked in the same great 
national interest with myself ; as every difference of 
this kind must in its consequence be very injurious." 



2?)7 



XI 

SOLDIER 

"My inclinations," wrote Washington at twenty- 
three, " are strongly bent to arms," and the tendency 
was a natural one, coming not merely from his Indian- 
fighting great-grandfather, but from his elder brother 
Lawrence, who had held a king's commission in the 
Carthagena expedition, and was one of the few 
officers who gained repute in that ill-fated attempt. 
At Mount Vernon George must have heard much 
of fighting as a lad, and when the ill health of Law- 
rence compelled resignation of command of the 
district militia, the younger brother succeeded to 
the adjutancy. This quickly led to the command 
of the first Virginia regiment when the French and 
Indian War was brewing. Twice Washington re- 
signed in disgust during the course of the war, but 
each time his natural bent, or ** glowing zeal," as he 
phrased it, drew him back into the service. The 
moment the news of Lexington reached Virginia he 
took the lead in organizing an armed force, and in 
the Virginia Convention of 1775, according to Lynch, 
he " made the most eloquent speech . . . that ever 
was made. Says he, * I will raise one thousand men, 
enlist them at my own expense, and march myself 
at their head for the relief of Boston.'" At fifty- 
three, in speaking of war, Washington said, ** my 
first wish is to see this plague to mankind banished 

208 



SOLDIER 

from off the earth ;" but during his whole life, when 
there was fighting to be done, he was among those 
who volunteered for the service. 

The personal courage of the man was very great. 
Jefferson, indeed, said "he was incapable of fear, 
meeting personal dangers with the calmest uncon- 
cern." Before he had ever been in action, he noted 
of a certain position that it was *'a charming field 
for an encounter," and his first engagement he de- 
scribed as follows : ** I fortunately escaped without 
any wound, for the right wing, where I stood, was 
exposed to and received all the enemy's fire, and it 
was the part where the man was killed, and the rest 
wounded. I heard the bullets whistle, and, believe 
me, there is something charming in the sound." In 
his second battle, though he knew that he was '* to 
be attacked and by unequal numbers," he promised 
beforehand to ''withstand" them "if there are five 
to one," adding, " I doubt not, but if you hear I am 
beaten, but you will, at the same [time,] hear that 
we have done our duty, in fighting as long [as] there 
was a possibility of hope," and in this he was as 
good as his word. When sickness detained him in 
the 3i*addock march, he halted only on condition 
that he should receive timely notice of when the 
fighting was to begin, and in that engagement he 
exposed himself so that "I had four bullets through 
my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped 
unhurt, altho' death was levelling my companions on 
every side of me !" Not content with such an ex- 
perience, in the second march on Fort Duquesne he 
"prayed" the interest of a friend to have his regi- 

«6^ 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

ment part of the ''light troops" that were to push 
forward in advance of the main army. 

The same carelessness of personal danger was 
shown all through the Revolution. At the battle of 
Brooklyn, on New York Island, at Trenton, German- 
town, and Monmouth, he exposed himself to the 
enemy's fire, and at the siege of Yorktown an eye- 
witness relates that " during the assault, the British 
kept up an incessant firing of cannon and musketry 
from their whole line. His Excellency General 
Washington, Generals Lincoln and Knox with their 
aids, having dismounted, were standing in an exposed 
situation waiting the result. Colonel Cobb, one of 
General Washington's aids, solicitous for his safety, 
said to his Excellency, ' Sir, you are too much ex- 
posed here, had you not better step back a little ?* 
'Colonel Cobb,' replied his Excellency, 'if you are 
afraid, you have liberty to step back.' " It is no 
cause for wonder that an ofificer wrote, " our army 
love their General very much, but they have one 
thing against him, which is the little care he takes 
of himself in any action. His personal bravery, and 
the desire he has of animating his troops by exam- 
ple, make him fearless of danger. This occasions 
us much uneasiness." 

This fearlessness was equally shown by his hatred 
and, indeed, non-comprehension of cowardice. In 
his first battle, upon the French surrendering, he 
wrote to the governor, "if the whole Detach't of the 
French behave with no more Resolution than this 
chosen Party did, I flatter myself we shall have no 
g't trouble in driving them to the d — ." At Brad- 

270 
















'''•'^f ^^'■'^^ ''^-"^^-'- -^4^^. ^^ 



WASHINGTON'S TRANSCRIPT OF THE RULES OF CIVILITY, 
CIRCA 1744 



SOLDIER 

dock's defeat, though the regiment he had com- 
manded ** behaved hke men and died hke soldiers," 
he could hardly find words to express his contempt 
for the conduct of the British *' cowardly regulars," 
writing of their ** dastardly behavior" when they 
" broke and ran as sheep before hounds," and raging 
over being **most scandalously" and "shamefully 
beaten." When the British first landed on New 
York Island, and two New England brigades ran 
away from *' a small party of the enemy," numbering 
about fifty, without firing a shot, he completely lost 
his self-control at their *' dastardly behavior," and 
riding in among them, it is related, he laid his cane 
over the officers' backs, ''damned them for cowardly 
rascals," and, drawing his sword, struck the soldiers 
right and left with the flat of it, while snapping his 
pistols at them. Greene states that the fugitives 
*' left his Excellency on the ground within eighty 
yards of the enemy, so vexed at the infamous con- 
duct of the troops, that he sought death rather than 
life," and Gordon adds that the General was only 
saved from his *' hazardous position" by his aides, 
who " caught the bridle of his horse and gave him a 
different direction." At Monmouth an aide stated 
that when he met a man running away he was ** ex- 
asperated . . . and threatened the man ... he 
would have him whipped," and General Scott says 
that on finding Lee retreating, "he swore like an 
angel from heaven." Wherever in his letters he 
alludes to cowardice it is nearly always coupled with 
the adjectives "infamous," "scandalous," or others 
equally indicative of loss of temper. 

271 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

There can be no doubt that Washington had a 
high temper. Hamilton's allusion to his not being 
remarkable for "good temper" has already been 
quoted, as has also Stuart's remark that " all his fea- 
tures were indicative of the strongest and most un- 
governable passions, and had he been born in the 
forests, he would have been the fiercest man among 
the savage tribes." Again Stuart is quoted by his 
daughter as follows : 

** While talking one day with General Lee, my father happened to 
remark that Washington had a tremendous temper, but held it under 
wonderful control. General Lee breakfasted with the President and 
Mrs. Washington a few days afterwards. 

♦"I saw your portrait the other day,' said the General, ' but Stuart 
says you have a tremendous temper. ' 

" * Upon my word,' said Mrs. Washington, coloring, < Mr. Stuart 
takes a great deal upon himself to make such a remark. ' 

*' ' But stay, my dear lady,' said General Lee, 'he added that the 
president had it under wonderful control. * 

'* 'With something like a smile. General Washington remarked, 
♦He is right.' " 

Lear, too, mentions an outburst of temper when 
he heard of the defeat of St. Clair, and elsewhere 
records that in reading politics aloud to Washington 
*' he appeared much affected, and spoke with some 
degree of asperity on the subject, which I endeav- 
ored to moderate, as I always did on such occa- 
sions." How he swore at Randolph and at Freneau 
is mentioned elsewhere. Jefferson is evidence that 
" his temper was naturally irritable and high-toned, 
but reflection and resolution had obtained a firm 
and habitual ascendency over it. If however it 
broke its bonds; he was most tremendous in his 

wrath." 

272 



SOLDIER 

Strikingly at variance with these personal quaHties 
of courage and hot blood is the "Fabian" policy 
for which he is so generally credited, and a study of 
his military career goes far to dispel the conception 
that Washington was the cautious commander that 
he is usually pictured. 

In the first campaign, though near a vastly superior 
French force, Washington precipitated the conflict 
by attacking and capturing an advance party, though 
the delay of a few days would have brought him 
large reinforcements. As a consequence he was 
very quickly surrounded, and after a day's fighting 
was compelled to surrender. In what light his con- 
duct was viewed at the time is shown in two letters, 
Dr. William Smith writing, *' the British cause, . . . 
has received a fatal Blow by the entire defeat of Wash- 
ington, whom I cannot but accuse of Foolhardiness 
to have ventured so near a vigilant enemy without 
being certain of their numbers, or waiting for Junc- 
tion of some hundreds of our best Forces, who are 
within a few Days' March of him," and Ann Willing 
echoed this by saying, ''the melancholy news has 
just arrived of the loss of sixty men belonging to 
Col. Washington's Company, who were killed on the 
spot, and of the Colonel and Half-King being taken 
prisoners, all owing to the obstinacy of Washington, 
who would not wait for the arrival of reinforce- 
ments." 

Hardly less venturesome was he in the Braddock 
campaign, for ** the General (before they met in 
council,) asked my opinion concerning the expedi- 
tion. I urged it, in the warmest terms I was able, 
i8 273 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

to push forward, if we even did it with a small but 
chosen band, with such artillery and light stores as 
were absolutely necessary ; leaving the heavy artil- 
lery, baggage, &c. with the rear division of the army, 
to follow by slow and easy marches, which they might 
do safely, v/hile we were advanced in front." How 
far the defeat of that force was due to the division 
thus urged it is not possible to say, but it undoubt- 
edly made the French bolder and the English more 
subject to panic. 

The same spirit was manifested in the Revolution. 
During the siege of Boston he wrote to Reed, " I 
proposed [an assault] in council ; but behold, though 
we had been waiting all the year for this favorable 
event the enterprise was thought too dangerous. 
Perhaps it was ; perhaps the irksomeness of my situ- 
ation led me to undertake more than could be war- 
ranted by prudence. I did not think so, and I am 
sure yet, that the enterprise, if it had been under- 
taken with resolution, must have succeeded." He 
added that '*the enclosed council of war: . . . being 
almost unanimous, I must suppose it to be right ; 
although, from a thorough conviction of the neces- 
sity of attempting something against the ministerial 
troops before a reinforcement should arrive, and 
while we were favored with the ice, I was not only 
ready but willing, and desirous of making the as- 
sault," and a little later he said that had he but 
foreseen certain contingencies " all the generals upon 
earth should not have convinced me of the pro- 
priety of delaying an attack upon Boston." 

In the defence of New York there was no chance 
274 



SOLDIER 

to attack, but even when our lines at Brooklyn had 
been broken and the best brigades in the army cap- 
tured, Washington hurried troops across the river, 
and intended to contest the ground, ordering a re- 
treat only when it was voted in the affirmative by a 
council of war. At Harlem plains he was the at- 
tacking party. 

How with a handful of troops he turned the tide 
of defeat by attacking at Trenton and Princeton is 
too well known to need recital. At Germantown, 
too, though having but a few days before suffered 
defeat, he attacked and well-nigh won a brilliant 
victory, because the British officers did not dream 
that his vanquished army could possibly take the 
initiative. When the foe settled down into winter 
quarters in Philadelphia Laurens wrote, '' our Com- 
mander-in-chief wishing ardently to gratify the public 
expectation by making an attack upon the enemy 
. . . went yesterday to view the works." On submit- 
ting the project to a council, however, they stood 
eleven to four against the attempt. 

The most marked instance of Washington's un~ 
Fabian preferences, and proof of the old saying that 
"councils of war never fight," is furnished in the 
occurrences connected with the battle of Monmouth. 
When the British began their retreat across New 
Jersey, according to Hamilton "the General un- 
luckily called a council of war, the result of which 
would have done honor to the most honorable so- 
ciety of mid-wives and to them only. The purport 
was, that we should keep at a comfortable distance 
from the enemy, and keep up a vain parade of 

275 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

annoying them by detachment . . . The General, on 
mature reconsideration of what had been resolved on, 
determined to pursue a different line of conduct at all 
hazards." Concerning this decision Pickering wrote, — 

"His great caution in respect to the enemy, acquired him the 
name of the American Fabius. From \h\s governing poHcy he is said 
to have departed, when" at Monmouth he "indulged the most anx- 
ious desire to close with his antagonist in general action. Opposed 
fo his wishes was the advice of his general officers. To this he for 
a time yielded ; but as soon as he discovered that the enemy had 
reached Monmouth Court House, not more than twelve miles from 
the heights of Middletown, he determined that he should not escape 
without a blow. ' ' 

Pickering considered this a 'departure" from 
Washington's "usual practice and policy," and cites 
Wadsworth, who said, in reference to the battle of 
Monmouth, that the General appeared, on that occa- 
sion, **to act from the impulses of his own mind." 

Thrice during the next three years plans for an 
attack on the enemy's lines at New York were ma- 
tured, one of which had to be abandoned because 
the British had timely notice of it by the treachery 
of an American general, a second because the other 
generals disapproved the attempt, and, on the au- 
thority of Humphreys, ** the accidental intervention 
of some vessels prevented [another] attempt, which 
was more than once resumed afterwards. Notwith- 
standing this favorite project was not ultimately 
effected, it was evidently not less bold in conception 
or feasible in accomplishment, than that attempted 
so successfully at Trenton, or than that which was 
brought to so glorious an issue in the successful siege 
of Yorktown." 

276 



SOLDIER 

As this resume indicates, the most noticeable trait 
of Washington's mihtaiy career was a tendency to 
surrender his own opinions and wishes to those over 
whom he had been placed, and this resulted in a 
general agreement not merely that he was disposed 
to avoid action, but that he lacked decision. Thus 
his own aide. Reed, in obvious contrast to Wash- 
ington, praised Lee because "you have decision, a 
quality often wanted in minds otherwise valuable," 
continuing, " Oh ! General, an indecisive mind is one 
of the greatest misfortunes that can befall an army ; 
how often have I lamented it this campaign," and Lee 
in reply alluded to ''that fatal indecision of mind." 
Pickering relates meeting General Greene and saying 
to him, '' ' I had once conceived an exalted opinion 
of General Washington's military talents ; but since 
I have been with the army, I have seen nothing to 
increase that opinion.' Greene answered, 'Why, the 
General does want decision: for my part, I decide in 
a moment' I used the word 'increase,' though I 
meant 'support,' but did not dare speak it." Wayne 
exclaimed "if our worthy general will but follow 
his own good judgment without listening too much 
to some counsel !" Edward Thornton, probably re- 
peating the prevailing public estimate of the time 
rather than his own conclusion, said, " a certain de- 
gree of indecision, however, a want of vigor and 
energy, may be observed in some of his actions, and 
are indeed the obvious result of too refined caution." 
Undoubtedly this leaning on others and the want 
of decision were not merely due to a constitutional 
mistrust of his own ability, but also in a measure to 

277 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

real lack of knowledge. The French and Indian War, 

being almost wholly " bush-fighting," was not of a 
kind to teach strategic warfare, and in his speech 
accepting the command Washington requested that 
" it may be remembered by every gentleman in the 
room, that I this day declare with the utmost sincerity 
I do not think myself equal to the command I am 
honored with." Indeed, he very well described 
himself and his generals when he wrote of one 
officer, "his wants are common to us all — the want of 
experience to move upon a large scale, for the limited 
and contracted knowledge, which any of us have in 
military matters, stands in very little stead." There 
can be no question that in most of the ''field" en- 
gagements of the Revolution Washington was out- 
generalled by the British, and Jefferson made a just 
distinction when he spoke of his having often " failed 
in the field, and rarely against an enemy in station, 
as at Boston and York." 

The lack of great military genius in the com- 
mander-in-chief has led British writers to ascribe the 
results of the war to the want of ability in their own 
generals, their view being well summed up by a writer 
in 1778, who said, "in short, I am of the opinion 
. . . that any other General in the world than Gen- 
eral Howe would have beaten General Washington ; 
and any other General in the world than General 
Washington would have beaten General Howe." 

This is, in effect, to overlook the true nature of 
the contest, for it was their very victories that de- 
feated the British. They conquered New Jersey, to 
meet defeat ; they captured Philadelphia, only to find 

278 



SOLDIER 

it a danger ; the)^ established posts in North Carolina, 
only to abandon them ; they overran Virginia, to lay 
down their arms at Yorktown. As Washington early 
in the war divined, the Revolution was "a war of 
posts," and he urged the danger of *' dividing and 
subdividing our Force too much [so that] we shall 
have no one post sufficiently guarded," saying, "it is 
a mihtary observation strongly supported by experi- 
ence, ' that a superior army may fall a sacrifice to an 
inferior, by an injudicious division.' " It was exactly 
this which defeated the British ; every conquest they 
made weakened their force, and the war was not a 
third through when Washington said, " I am well 
convinced myself, that the enemy, long ere this, are 
perfectly well satisfied, that the possession of our 
towns, while we have an army in the field, will avail 
them little." As Franklin said, when the news was 
announced that Howe had captured Philadelphia, 
**No, Philadelphia has captured Howe." 

The problem of the Revolution was not one of 
military strategy, but of keeping an army in exist- 
ence, and it was in this that the commander-in-chief's 
great ability showed itself The British could and 
did repeatedly beat the Continental army, but they 
could not beat the General, and so long as he was in 
the field there was a rallying ground for whatever 
fighting spirit there was. 

The difficulty of this task can hardly be over- 
magnified. When Washington assumed command 
of the forces before Boston, he "found a mixed 
multitude of people . . under very little discipline, 
order, or government," and "confusion and disorder 

279 , 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

reigned in eveiy department, which, in a little time, 
must have ended either in the separation of the army 
or fatal contests with one another." Before he was 
well in the saddle his general officers were quarrel- 
ling over rank, and resigning ; there was such a 
scarcity of powder that it was out of the question 
for some months to do anything ; and the British 
sent people infected with small-pox to the Continen- 
tal army, with a consequent outbreak of that pest. 

Hardly had he brought order out of chaos when 
the army he had taken such pains to discipline 
began to melt away, having been by political folly 
recruited for short terms, and the work was to be all 
done over. Again and again during the war regi- 
ments which had been enlisted for short periods left 
him at the most critical moment. Very typical 
occurrences he himself tells of, when Connecticut 
troops could *' not be prevailed upon to stay longer 
than their term (saving those who have enlisted for 
the next campaign, and mostly on furlough), and 
such a dirty, mercenary spirit pervades the whole, 
that I should not be at all surprised at any disaster 
that may happen," and when he described how in his 
retreat through New Jersey, "The militia, instead 
of calling forth their utmost efforts to a brave and 
manly opposition in order to repair our losses, are 
dismayed, intractable, and impatient to return. 
Great numbers of them have gone off; in some 
instances, almost by whole regiments, by half ones, 
and by companies at a time." Another instance of 
this evil occurred when *' the Continental regiments 
from the eastern governments . . . agreed to stay 

280 



SOLDIER 

six weeks beyond their term of enlistment. . . . For 
this extraordinary mark of their attachment to their 
country, I have agreed to give them a bounty of ten 
dollars per man, besides their pay running on." 
The men took the bounty, and nearly one-half went 
off a few days after. 

Nor was this the only evil of the policy of short 
enlistments. Another was that the new troops not 
merely were green soldiers, but were without disci- 
pline. At New York Tilghman wrote that after the 
battle of Brooklyn the ** Eastern" soldiers were 
''plundering eveiything that comes in their way," 
and Washington in describing the condition said, 
" every Hour brings the most distressing complaints 
of the Ravages of our own Troops who are become 
infinitely more formidable to the poor Farmers and 
Inhabitants than the common Enemy. Horses are 
taken out of the Continental Teams ; the Baggage 
of Officers and the Hospital Stores, even the Quar- 
ters of General Officers are not exempt from Rapine." 
At the most critical moment of the war the New 
Jersey militia not merely deserted, but captured and 
took with them nearly the whole stores of the army. 
As the General truly wrote, " the Dependence which 
the Congress have placed upon the militia, has 
already greatly injured, and I fear will totally ruin 
our cause. Being subject to no controul themselves, 
they introduce disorder among the troops, whom you 
have attempted to discipline, while the change in 
their living brings on sickness ; this makes them Im- 
patient to get home, which spreads universally, and 
introduces abominable desertions." '* The collecting 

2Sl 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

rnilitia," he said elsewhere, "depends entirely upon 
the prospects of the day. If favorable they throng 
in to you ; if not, they will not move." 

To make matters worse, politics were allowed to 
play a prominent part in the selection of officers, 
and Washington complained that " the different 
States [were], without regard to the qualifications of 
an officer, quarrelling about the appointments, and 
nominating such as are not fit to be shoeblacks, from 
the attachments of this or that member of Assembly." 
As a result, so he wrote of New England, "their 
officers are generally of the lowest class of the peo- 
ple ; and, instead of setting a good example to their 
men, are leading them into every kind of mischief, 
one species of which is plundering the inhabitants, 
under the pretence of their being Tories." To this 
political motive he himself would not yield, and a 
sample of his appointments was given when a man 
was named "because he stands unconnected with 
either of these Governments ; or with this, or that or 
tother man ; for between you and me there is more 
in this than you can easily imagine," and he asserted 
that " I will not have any Gentn. introduced from 
family connexion, or local attachments, to the preju- 
dice of the Service." 

To misbehaving soldiers Washington showed little 
mercy. In his first service he had deserters and 
plunderers " flogged," and threatened that if he could 
"lay hands" on one particular culprit, "I would try 
the effect of looo lashes." At another time he had 
"a Gallows near 40 feet high erected (which has 
terrified the rest exceedingly) and I am determined 

282 



SOLDIER 

if I can be justified in the proceeding, to hang two 
or three on it, as an example to others." When he 
took command of the Continental army he "made 
a pretty good slam among such kind of officers as 
the Massachusetts Government abound in since I 
came to this Camp, having broke one Colo, and two 
Captains for cowardly behavior in the action on 
Bunker's Hill, — two Captains for drawing more pro- 
visions and pay than they had men in their Company 
— and one for being absent from his Post when the 
Enemy appeared there and burnt a House just by 
it. Besides these, I have at this time — one Colo., 
one Major, one Captn., & two subalterns under 
arrest for tryal — In short I spare none yet fear it will 
not at all do as these People seem to be too inatten- 
tive to every thing but their Interest." "I am sorry," 
he wrote, " to be under a Necessity of making fre- 
quent Examples among the Officers," but "as noth- 
ing can be more fatal to an Army, than Crimes of 
this kind, I am determined by every Motive of 
Reward and Punishment to prevent them in future." 
Even when plundering was avoided there were 
short commons for those who clung to the General. 
The commander-in-chief wrote Congress that " they 
have often, very often, been reduced to the necessity 
of Eating Salt Porke, or Beef not for a day, or a 
week but months together without Vegetables, or 
money to buy them ;" and again, he complained that 
"the Soldiers [were forced to] eat every kind of 
horse food but Hay. Buckwheat, common wheat. 
Rye and Indn. Corn was the composition of the Meal 
which made their bread. As an Army they bore it, 

283 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

[but] accompanied by the want of Cloaths, Blankets, 
&c., will produce frequent desertions in all armies 
and so it happens with us, tho' it did not excite a 
mutiny." Even the horses suffered, and Washington 
wrote to the quartermaster-general, "Sir, my horses 
I am told have not had a mouthful of long or short 
forage for three days. They have eaten ud their 
mangers and are now, (though wanted for immediate 
use,) scarcely able to stand." 

Two results were sickness and discontent. At 
times one-fourth of the soldiers were on the sick-list. 
Three times portions of the army mutinied, and 
nothing but Washington's influence prevented the 
disorder from spreading. At the end of the war, 
when, according to Hamilton, **the army had secretly 
determined not to lay down their arms until due 
provision and a satisfactory prospect should be 
offered on the subject of their pay," the commander- 
in-chief urged Congress to do them justice, writing, 
*' the fortitude — the long, & great suffering of this 
army is unexampled in history ; but there is an end 
to all things & I fear we are very near to this. 
Which, more than probably will oblige me to stick 
very close to my flock this winter, & tiy like a care- 
ful physician, to prevent, if possible, the disorders 
getting to an incurable height." In this he judged 
rightly, for by his influence alone was the army pre- 
vented from adopting other than peaceful measures 
to secure itself justice. 

A chief part of these difficulties the Continental 
Congress is directly responsible for, and the reason 
for their conduct is to be found largely in the cir- 

284 




LIFE MASK OF WASHINGTOI 



SOLDIER 

cumstances of Washington's appointment to the 
command. 

When the Second Congress met, in May, 1/75, the 
battle of Lexington had been fought, and twenty 
thousand minute-men were assembled about Boston. 
To pay and feed such a horde was wholly beyond 
the ability of New England, and her delegates came 
to the Congress bent upon getting that body to 
assume the expense, or, as the Provincial Congress 
of Massachusetts naively put it, " we have the great- 
est Confidence in the Wisdom and Ability of the 
Continent to support us." 

The other colonies saw this in a different light 
Massachusetts, without our advice, has begun a war 
and embodied an army ; let Massachusetts pay her 
own bills, was their point of view. *' I have found 
this Congress like the last," wrote John Adams. 
"When v/e first came together, I found a strong 
jealousy of us from New England, and the Massa- 
chusettes in particular, suspicions entertained of 
designs of independency, an American repubHc, 
Presbyterian principles, and twenty other things. 
Our sentiments were heard in Congress with great 
caution, and seemed to make but little impression." 
Yet ** every post brought me letters from my friends 
. . . urging in pathetic terms the impossibility of 
keeping their men together without the assistance of 
Congress." "I was daily urging all these things, 
but we were embarrassed with more than one diffi- 
culty, not only with the party in favor of the petition 
to the King, and the party who were zealous of 
independence, but a third party, which was a southern 

285 



THE TRUE GEpRGE WASHINGTON 

party against a Northern, and a jealousy against a 
New England army under the command of a New 
England General." 

Under these circumstances a political deal was 
resorted to, and Virginia was offered by John and 
Samuel Adams, as the price of an adoption and sup- 
port of the New England army, the appointment of 
commander-in-chief, though the offer was not made 
with over-good grace, and only because "we could 
carry nothing without conceding it." There was 
some dissension among the Virginia delegates as to 
who should receive the appointment, Washington 
himself recommending an old companion in arms, 
General Andrew Lewis, and ''more than one," Adams 
says of the Virginia delegates, were ''very cool about 
the appointment of Washington, and particularly 
Mr. Pendleton was very clear and full against it." 
Washington himself said the appointment was due 
to "partiality of the Congress, joined to a political 
motive ;" and, hard as it is to realize, it was only the 
grinding political necessity of the New England 
colonies which secured to Washington the place for 
which in the light of to-day he seems to have been 
created. 

As a matter of course, there was not the strongest 
liking felt for the General thus chosen by the New 
England delegates, and this was steadily lessened by 
Washington's frank criticism of the New England 
soldiers and officers already noticed. Equally bitter 
to the New England delegates and their allies were 
certain army measures that Washington pressed upon 
the attention of Congress. He urged and urged 
.286 



SOLDIER 

that the troops should be enlisted for the war, that 
promotions should be made from the army as a 
whole, and not from the colony- or State-line alone, 
and most unpopular of all, that since Continental 
soldiers could not otherwise be obtained, a bounty 
should be given to secure them, and that as com- 
pensation for their inadequate pay half-pay should 
be given them after the war. He eventually carried 
these points, but at the price of an entire alienation 
of the democratic party in the Congress, who wished 
to have the war fought with militia, to have all the 
officers elected annually, and to whom the very sug- 
gestion of pensions was like a red rag to a bull. 

A part of their motive in this was unquestionably 
to prevent the danger of a standing army, and of 
allowing the commander-in-chief to become popular 
with the soldiers. Very early in the war Washington 
noted " ^^ jealousy which Congress unhappily enter- 
tain of the army, and which, if reports are right, 
some members labor to establish." And he com- 
plained that ** I see a distrust and jealousy of mili- 
tary power, that the commander-in-chief has not an 
opportunity, even by recommendation, to give the 
least assurance of reward for the most essential ser- 
vices." The French minister told his government 
that when a committee was appointed to institute 
certain army reforms, delegates in Congress '' insisted 
on the danger of associating the Commander-in-chief 
with it, whose influence, it was stated, was already 
too great," and when France sent money to aid the 
American cause, with the provision that it should be 
subject to the order of the General, it aroused, a 
287 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

writer states, *' the jealousy of Congress, the members 
of which were not satisfied that the head of the army- 
should possess such an agency in addition to his 
military power." 

His enemies in the Congress took various means to 
lessen his influence and mortify him. Burke states 
that in the discussion of one question ** Jersey, Penn- 
sylvania, North Carolina, and South Carolina voted 
for expunging it ; the four Eastern States, Virginia 
and Georgia for retaining it. There appeared through 
this whole debate a great desire, in some of the dele- 
gates from the Eastern States, and in one from New 
Jersey, to insult the General," and a little later the 
Congress passed a ** resolve which," according to 
James Lovell, ''was meant to rap a Demi G — over 
the knuckles." Nor was it by commission, but as 
well by omission, that they showed their ill feeling. 
John Laurens told his father that 

"there is a conduct observed towards" the General "by certain great 
men, which as it is humiliating, must abate his happiness. . . . The 
Commander in Chief of this army is not sufficiently informed of all 
that is known by Congress of European affairs. Is it not a galling cir- 
cumstance, for him to collect the most important intelligence piece- 
meal, and as they choose to give it, from gentlemen who come from 
York ? Apart from the chagrin which he must necessarily feel at 
such an appearance of slight, it should be considered that in order 
to settle his plan of operations for the ensuing campaign, he should 
take into view the present state of European affairs, and Congress 
should not leave him in the dark." 

Furthermore, as already noted, Washington was 
criticised for his Fabian policy, and in his indignation 
he wrote to Congress, " I am informed that it is a 
matter of amazement, and that reflections have been 
thrown out against this army, for not being more 

288 



SOLDIER 

active and enterprising than, in the opinion of some, 
they ought to have been. If the charge is just, the 
best way to account for it will be to refer you to the 
returns of our strength, and those which I can pro- 
duce of the enemy, and to the enclosed abstract of 
the clothing now actually wanting for the army." 
"I can assure those gentlemen," he said, in reply 
to political criticism, ''that it is a much easier and 
less distressing thing to draw remonstrances in a 
comfortable room by a good fireside, than to occupy 
a cold, bleak hill, and sleep under frost and snow, 
without clothes or blankets." 

The ill feeling did not end with insults. With the 
defeats of the years 1776 and 1777 it gathered 
force, and towards the end of the latter year it 
crystallized in what has been known in history as 
the Conway Cabal. The story of this conspiracy is 
so involved in shadow that little is known concerning 
its adherents or its endeavors. But in a general way 
it has been discovered that the New England dele- 
gates again sought the aid of the Lee faction in 
Virginia, and that this coalition, with the aid of 
such votes as they could obtain, schemed several 
methods which should lessen the influence of Wash- 
ington, if they did not force him to resign. Sepa- 
rate and detached commands were created, which 
were made independent of the commander-in-chief, 
and for this purpose even a scheme which the Gen- 
eral called "a child of folly" was undertaken. Of- 
ficers notoriously inimical to Washington, yet upon 
whom he would be forced to rely, were promoted. 
A board of war made up of his enemies, with powers 
19 289 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

"in effect paramount," Hamilton says, ''to those of 
the commander-in-chief," was created. It is even 
asserted that it was moved in Congress that a com- 
mittee should be appointed to arrest Washington, 
which was defeated only by the timely arrival of a 
new delegate, by which the balance of power was 
lost to the Cabal. 

Even with the collapse of the army Cabal the 
opposition in Congress was maintained. "I am very 
confident," wrote General Greene, "that there is 
party business going on again, and, as Mifflin is con- 
nected with it, I doubt not its being a revival of the 
old scheme ;" again writing, " General Schuyler and 
others consider it a plan of Mifflin's to injure your 
Excellency's operations. I am now fully convinced 
of the reality of what I suggested to you before I 
came away." In 1779 John Sullivan, then a mem- 
ber of Congress, wrote, — 

•'Permit me to inform your Excellency, that the faction raised 
against you in 1777, is not yet destroyed. The members are waiting 
to collect strength, and seize some favorable moment to appear in 
force. I speak not from conjecture, but from certain knowledge. 
Their plan is to take every method of proving the danger arising 
from a commander, who enjoys the full and unlimited confidence of 
his army, and alarm the people with the prospects of imaginary evils ; 
nay, they will endeavor to convert your virtue into arrows, with which 
they will seek to wound you." 

But Washington could not be forced into a resig- 
nation, ill-treat and slight him as they would, and 
at no time were they strong enough to vote him out 
of office. For once a Congressional " deal" be- 
tween New England and Virginia did not succeed, 
and as Washington himself wrote, " I have a good 

290 



SOLDIER 

deal of reason to believe that the machination of 
this junto will recoil on their own heads, and be a 
means of bringing some matters to light which by 
getting me out of the way, some of them thought 
to conceal." In this he was right, for the re-elec- 
tions of both Samuel Adams and Richard Henry 
Lee were put in danger, and for some time they 
were discredited even in their own colonies. " I 
have happily had," Washington said to a corre- 
spondent, "but few differences with those with whom 
I have had the honor of being connected in the 
service. With whom, and of what nature these have 
been, you know. I bore much for the sake of peace 
and the public good." 

As is well known, Washington served without pay 
during his eight years of command, and, as he said, 
*' fifty thousand pounds would not induce me again 
to undergo what I have done." No wonder he 
declared " that the God of armies may incline the 
hearts of my American brethren to support the 
present contest, and bestow sufficient abilities on me 
to bring it to a speedy and happy conclusion, thereby 
enabling me to sink into sweet retirement, and the 
full enjoyment of that peace and happiness, which 
will accompany a domestic life, is the first wish and 
most fervent prayer of my soul." 

The day finally came when his work was finished, 
and he could be, as he phrased it, "translated into 
a private citizen." Marshall describes the scene as 
follows : "At noon, the principal officers of the 
army assembled at Frances' tavern ; soon after which, 
their beloved commander entered the room. His 

291 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

emotions were too strong to be concealed. Filling 
a glass, he turned to them and said, ' With a heart 
full of love and gratitude, I now take leave of you : 
I most devoutly wish that your latter days may be 
as prosperous and happy, as your former ones have 
been glorious and honorable.' Having drunk, he 
added, ' I cannot come to each of you to take my 
leave ; but shall be obliged to you, if each of you 
will come and take me by the hand.' General Knox, 
being nearest, turned to him. Incapable of utter- 
ance, Washington grasped his hand, and embraced 
him. In the same affectionate manner he took leave 
of each succeeding officer. In every eye was the 
tear of dignified sensibility, and not a word was 
articulated to interrupt the majestic silence, and the 
tenderness of the scene. Leaving the room, he 
passed through the corps of light infantry, and 
walked to Whitehall, where a barge waited to con- 
vey him to Powles-hook. The whole company fol- 
lowed in mute and solemn procession, with dejected 
countenance. . . . Having entered the barge, he 
turned to the company, and, waving his hat, bade 
them a silent adieu." 



292 



XII 

CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

Washington became a government servant before 
he became a voter, by receiving in 1749, or when 
he was seventeen years of age, the appointment of 
official surveyor of Culpepper County, the salary of 
which, according to Boucher, was about fifty pounds 
Virginia currency a year. The office was certainly 
not a very fat berth, for it required the holder to live 
in a frontier county, to travel at times, as Washington 
in his journal noted, over '*ye worst Road that ever 
was trod by Man or Beast," to sometimes lie on 
straw, which once "catch'd a Fire," and we "was 
luckily Preserv'd by one of our Mens waking," 
sometimes under a tent, which occasionally " was 
Carried quite of[f] with ye Wind and" we *'was 
obliged to Lie ye Latter part of ye night without 
covering," and at other times driven from under the 
tent by smoke. Indeed, one period of surveying 
Washington described to a friend by writing, — 

'• [Since] October Last I have not sleep'd above three Nights or 
four in a bed but after Walking a good deal all the Day lay down 
before the fire upon a Little Hay Straw Fodder or bearskin which- 
ever is to be had with Man Wife and Children like a Parcel of Dogs 
or Catts & happy's he that gets the Birth nearest the fire there's 
nothing would make it pass of tolerably but a good Reward a Dub- 
bleloon is my constant gain every Day that the Weather will per- 
mit my going out and some time Six Pistoles the coldness of the 

293 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Weather will not allow my making a long stay as the Lodging is 
rather too cold for the time of Year I have never had my Cloths 
of but lay and sleep in them like a Negro except the few Nights I 
have lay'n in Frederick Town." 

In 1 75 1, when he was nineteen, Washington bet- 
tered his lot by becoming adjutant of one of the 
four military districts of Virginia, with a salary of 
one hundred pounds and a far less toilsome occupa- 
tion. This in turn led up to his military appoint- 
ment in 1754, which he held almost continuously 
till 1759, when he resigned from the service. 

Next to a position on the Virginia council, a seat 
in the House of Burgesses, or lower branch of the 
Legislature, was most sought, and this position had 
been held by Washington's great-grandfather, father, 
and elder brother. It was only natural, therefore, 
that in becoming the head of the family George 
should desire the position. As early as 1755, while 
on the frontier, he wrote to his brother in charge of 
Mount Vernon inquiring about the election to be 
held in the county, and asking him to ''come at 
Colo Fairfax's intentions, and let me know whether 
he purposes to offer himself as a candidate." "If 
he does not, I should be glad to take a poll, if I 
thought my chance tolerably good." His friend 
Carlyle, Washington wrote, had ** mentioned it to 
me in Williamsburg in a bantering way," and he 
begged his brother to '' discover Major Carlyle's real 
sentiments on this head," as also those of the other 
prominent men of the county, and especially of the 
clergymen. '' Soimd their pulse," he wrote, "with 
an air of indifference and unconcern . . . without 

294 



THE 

JOURNAL 

O F 

Major George W^ajhtngton^ 

SENT BY THE 

Hon. ROBERT DINIVIDDIE, Efq; 
Hi» Majdty s Lieutenant-Governor, and 
Commander in Chief of y I RGIN lA^ 

TO THE 

COMMANDANT 

O F T H 1 

FRENCH FORCES 

O N 

OHIO. 

To WHICH ARI ADDID, Tifl 

G O V E R N O R's LETTER, 
Anj) aTRANSLATIONof the 

Friwch officerv answer 

W I L L I A M S BV RG\ 
Printcdby WILLIAM HUNTER. 1754 



TITLE-PAGE OF WASHINGTON'S JOURNAL 



CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

disclosing much of mine.'' " If they seem inclinable 
to promote my interest, and things should be draw- 
ing to a crisis, you may declare my intention and 
beg their assistance. If on the contrary you find 
them more inclined to favor some other, I would 
have the affair entirely dropped." Apparently the 
county magnates disapproved, for Washington did 
not stand for the county. 

In 1757 an election for burgesses was held in 
Frederick County, in which Washington then was 
(with his soldiers), and for which he offered himself 
as a candidate. The act was hardly a wise one, for, 
though he had saved Winchester and the surround- 
ing country from being overrun by the Indians, he 
was not popular. Not merely was he held respon- 
sible for the massacres of outlying inhabitants, whom 
it was impossible to protect, but in this very defence 
he had given cause for ill-feeling. He himself con- 
fessed that he had several times "strained the law," 
— he had been forced to impress the horses and 
wagons of the district, and had in other ways so 
angered some of the people that they had threatened 
"to blow out my brains." But he had been guilty 
of a far worse crime still in a political sense. Vir- 
ginia elections were based on liquor, and Washing- 
ton had written to the governor, representing " the 
great nuisance the number of tippling houses in 
Winchester are to the soldiers, who by this means, 
in spite o^ the utmost care and vigilance, are, so 
long as their pay holds, incessantly drunk and unfit 
for service," and he wished that "the new commis- 
sion for this county may have the intended effect," 

29s 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

for " the number of tippling houses kept here is a 
great grievance." As already noted, the Virginia 
regiment was accused in the papers of drunkenness, 
and under the sting of that accusation Washington 
declared war on the publicans. He whipped his 
men when they became drunk, kept them away from 
the ordinaries, and even closed by force one tavern 
which was especially culpable. "Were it not too 
tedious," he wrote the governor, ** I cou'd give your 
Honor such instances of the villainous Behavior of 
those Tippling House-keepers, as wou'd astonish 
any person." 

The conduct was admirable, but it was not good 
poHtics, and as soon as he offered himself as a can- 
didate, the saloon element, under the leadership of 
one Lindsay, whose family were tavern-keepers in 
Winchester for at least one hundred years, united to 
oppose him. Against the would-be burgess they set 
up one Captain Thomas Swearingen, whom Wash- 
ington later described as " a man of great weight 
among the meaner class of people, and supposed by 
them to possess extensive knowledge," As a result, 
the poll showed Swearingen elected by two hundred 
and seventy votes, and Washington defeated with but 
forty ballots. 

This sharp experience in practical politics seems to 
have taught the young candidate a lesson, for when 
a new election came in 1758 he took a leaf from 
his enemy's book, and fought them with their own 
weapons. The friendly aid of the county boss, 
Colonel John Wood, was secured, as also that of 
Gabriel Jones, a man of much local force and popu- 

296 



CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

larity. Scarcely less important were the sinews of 
war employed, told of in the following detailed ac- 
count. A law at that time stood on the Virginia 
statutes forbidding all treating or giving of what 
were called ** ticklers" to the voters, and declaring 
illegal all elections which were thus influenced. 
None the less, the voters of Frederick enjoyed at 
Washington's charge — 

40 gallons of Rum Punch @ 3/6 pr. gain ..700 

15 gallons of Wine @ 10/ pr. gain 7 10 o 

Dinner for your Friends 3 00 

13^ gallons of Wine @ 10/ 6 15 

ZYz pts. of Brandy ©1/3 4 4>^ 

13 Galls. Beer @ 1/3 16 3 

8 qts. Cyder Royl @ 1/6 o 12 o 

Punch 3 9 

30 gallns. of strong beer @ 8d pr. gall ... 10 

I hhd & I Barrell of Punch, consisting of 

26 gals, best Barbadoes rum, 5/ . . 6 lo o 

12 lbs. S. Refd. Sugar 1/6 ... . 18 9 

3 galls, and 3 quarts of Beer @ 1/ pr. gall. . . 39 

10 Bowls of Punch @ 2/6 each I 50 

9 half pints of rum @ 7 J^ d. each 5 7^ 

I pint of wine 16 

After the election was over, Washington wrote 
Wood that " I hope no Exception was taken to any 
that voted against me, but that all were alike treated, 
and all had enough. My only fear is that you spent 
with too sparing a hand." It is hardly necessary to 
say that such methods reversed the former election ; 
Washington secured three hundred and ten votes, 
and Swearingen received forty-five. What is more, 
so far from now threatening to blow out his brains, 
there was *' a general applause and huzzaing for 
Colonel Washington." 

297 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

From this time until he took command of the 
army Washington was a burgess. Once again he 
was elected from Frederick County, and then, in 
1765, he stood for Fairfax, in which Mount Vernon 
was located. Here he received two hundred and 
eight votes, his colleague getting but one hundred and 
forty-eight, and in the election of 1 768 he received 
one hundred and eighty-five, and his colleague only 
one hundred and forty-two. Washington spent be- 
tween forty and seventy-five pounds at each of these 
elections, and usually gave a ball to the voters on 
the night he was chosen. Some of the miscellaneous 
election expenses noted in his ledger are, "54 gallons 
of Strong Beer," "52 Do. of Ale," "^i.o.o. to Mr. 
John Muir for his fiddler," and " For cakes at the 
Election £j.\ i.i." 

The first duty which fell to the new burgess was 
service on a committee to draught a law to prevent 
hogs from running at large in Winchester. He was 
very regular in his attendance ; and though he took 
little part in the proceedings, yet in some way he 
made his influence felt, so that when the time came 
to elect deputies to the First Congress he stood third 
in order among the seven appointed to attend that 
body, and a year later, in the delegation to the Con- 
tinental Congress, he stood second, Peyton Randolph 
receiving one more vote only, and all the other dele- 
gates less. 

This distinction was due to the sound judgment 
of the man rather than to those qualities that are 
considered senatorial. Jefferson said, *' I served with 
General Washington In the legislature of Virginia 

29S 



CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

before the revolution, and, during it, with Dr. Frank- 
lin in Congress. I never heard either of them speak 
ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point 
which was to decide the question. They laid their 
shoulders to the great points, knowing that the little 
ones would follow of themselves." 

Through all his life Washington was no speech- 
maker. In 1758, by an order of the Assembly, 
Speaker Robinson was directed to return its thanks 
to Colonel Washington, on behalf of the colony, for 
the distinguished military services which he had ren- 
dered to the country. As soon as he took his seat in 
the House, the Speaker performed this duty in such 
glowing terms as quite overwhelmed him. Wash- 
ington rose to express his acknowledgments for the 
honor, but was so disconcerted as to be unable to 
articulate a word distinctly. He blushed and faltered 
for a moment, when the Speaker relieved him from 
his embarrassment by saying, ** Sit down, Mr. Wash- 
ington, your modesty equals your valor, and that 
surpasses the power of any language that I possess." 

This stage-fright seems to have clung to him. 
When Adams hinted that Congress should "appoint 
a General," and added, ** I had no hesitation to de- 
clare that I had but one gentleman in my mind for 
that important command, and that was a gentleman 
whose skill and experience as an officer, whose inde- 
pendent fortune, great talents, and excellent universal 
character, would command the approbation of all 
America, and unite the cordial exertions of all the 
Colonies better than any other person in the Union," 
he relates that " Mr. Washington who happened to 

299 



THE TRUE GEQRGE WASHINGTON 

sit near the door, as soon as he heard me allude to 
him, from his usual modesty, darted into the library- 
room." 

So, too, at his inauguration as President, Maclay 
noted that ** this great man was agitated and embar- 
rassed more than ever he was by the leveled cannon 
or pointed musket. He trembled, and several times 
could scarce make out to read [his speech], though 
it must be supposed he had often read it before," 
and Fisher Ames wrote, "He addressed the two 
Houses in the Senate-chamber ; it was a veiy touch- 
ing scene and quite of a solemn kind. His aspect 
grave, almost to sadness ; his modesty actually 
shaking ; his voice deep, a little tremulous, and so 
low as to call for close attention." 

There can be little doubt that this non-speech- 
making ability was not merely the result of inaptitude, 
but was also a principle, for when his favorite 
nephew was elected a burgess, and made a well- 
thought-of speech in his first attempt, his uncle wrote 
him, "You have, I find, broke the ice. The only 
advice I will offer to you on the occasion (if you have 
a mind to command the attention of the House,) is 
to speak seldom, but to important subjects, except 
such as particularly relate to your constituents ; and, 
in the former case, make yourself perfectly master 
of the subject. Never exceed a decent warmth, and 
submit your sentiments with diffidence. A dicta- 
torial stile, though it may carry conviction, is always 
accompanied with disgust." To a friend writing of 
this same speech he said, "with great pleasure I 
received the information respecting the commence- 



CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

ment of my nephew's political course. I hope he 
will not be so bouyed by the favorable impression 
it has made, as to become a babbler." 

Even more indicative of his own conceptions of 
senatorial conduct is advice given in a letter to Jack 
Custis, when the latter, too, achieved an election to 
the Assembly. 

" I do not suppose," he wrote, "that so young a senator as you 
are, Uttle versed in political disquisitions, can yet have much influ- 
ence in a populous assembly, composed of Gentln. of various talents 
and of different views. But it is in your power to be punctual in 
your attendance (and duty to the trust reposed in you exacts it of 
you), to hear dispassionately and determine coolly all great questions. 
To be disgusted at the decision of questions, because they are not 
consonant to your own ideas, and to withdraw ourselves from public 
assemblies, or to neglect our attendance at them, upon suspicion 
that there is a party formed, who are inimical to our cause, and to 
the true interest of our country, is wrong, because these things may 
originate in a difference of opinion ; but, supposing the fact is other- 
wise, and that our suspicions are well founded, it is the indispensable 
duty of every patriot to counteract them by the most steady and 
uniform opposition." 

In the Continental Congress, Randolph states, 
"Washington was prominent, though silent His 
looks bespoke a mind absorbed in meditation on his 
country's fate ; but a positive concert between him 
and Heniy could not more effectually have exhibited 
him to view, than when Henry ridiculed the idea of 
peace 'when there was no peace,' and enlarged on 
the duty of preparing for war." Very quickly his 
attendance on that body was ended by its appointing 
him general. 

His political relations to the Congress have been 
touched upon elsewhere, but his attitude towards 

301 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

Great Britain is worth attention. Very early he had 
said, "At a time when our lordly masters in Great 
Britain will be satisfied with nothing less than the 
deprivation of American freedom, it seems highly 
necessary that something should be done to avert 
the stroke, and maintain the liberty, which we have 
derived from our ancestors. But the manner of doing 
it, to answer the purpose effectually, is the point in 
question. That no man should scruple, or hesitate a 
moment, to use a — s in defence of so valuable a bless- 
ing, on which all the good and evil of life depends, 
is clearly my opinion." When actual war ensued, he 
was among the first to begin to collect and drill a 
force, even while he wrote, " unhappy it is, though to 
reflect, that a brother's sword has been sheathed in a 
brother's breast, and that the once happy and peace- 
ful plains of America are either to be drenched 
with blood or inhabited by slaves. Sad alternative ! 
But can a virtuous man hesitate in his choice?" 

Not till early in 1776 did he become a convert to 
independence, and then only by such '* flaming argu- 
ments as were exhibited at Falmouth and Norfolk," 
which had been burned by the British. At one time, 
in 1776, he thought ** the game will be pretty well 
up," but "under a full persuasion of the justice of 
our cause, I cannot entertain an Idea, that it will 
finally sink, tho' it may remain for some time under 
a cloud," and even in this time of terrible discourage- 
ment he maintained that "nothing short of indepen- 
dence, it appears to me, can possibly do. A peace 
on other terms would, if I may be allowed the ex- 
pression, be a peace of war." 

302 



CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

Pickering, who placed a low estimate on his mili- 
tary ability, said that, " upon the whole, I have no 
hesitation in saying that General Washington's 
talents were much better adapted to the Presidency 
of the United States than to the command of their 
armies," and this is probably true. The diplomatist 
Thornton said of the President, that if his ** circum- 
spection is accompanied by discernment and penetra- 
tion, as I am informed it is, and as I should be 
inclined to believe from the judicious choice he has 
generally made of persons to fill public stations, he 
possesses the two great requisites of a statesman, the 
faculty of concealing his own sentiments and of dis- 
covering those of other men." 

To follow his course while President is outside 
of the scope of this work, but a few facts are worth 
noting. Allusion has already been made to his use 
of the appointing power, but how clearly he held it 
as a " public trust" is shown in a letter to his long- 
time friend Benjamin Harrison, who asked him for an 
office. ** I will go to the chair," he replied, ''under 
no pre-engagement of any kind or nature whatso- 
ever. But, when in it, to the best of my judgment, 
discharge the duties of the office with that impar- 
tiality and zeal for the public good, which ought 
never to suffer connection of blood or friendship to 
intermingle so as to have the least sway on the 
decision of a public nature." This position was held 
to firmly. John Adams wrote an office-seeker, " I 
must caution you, my dear Sir, against having any 
dependence on my influence or that Oi any other 
person. No man, I believe, has influence with the 

303 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

President He seeks information from all quarters, 
and judges more independently than any man I ever 
knew. It is of so much importance to the public 
that he should preserve this superiority, that I hope 
I shall never see the time that any man will have 
influence with him beyond the powers of reason and 
argument" 

Long after, when political strife was running high, 
Adams said, " Washington appointed a multitude of 
democrats and jacobins of the deepest die. I have 
been more cautious in this respect ; but there is 
danger of proscribing under imputations of democ- 
racy, some of the ablest, most influential, and best 
characters in the Union." In this he was quite cor- 
rect, for the first President's appointments were made 
with a view to destroy party and not create it, his 
object being to gather all the talent of the country 
in support of the national government, and he bore 
many things which personally were disagreeable in 
an endeavor to do this. 

Twice during Washington's terms he was forced 
to act counter to the public sentiment The first 
time was when a strenuous attempt was made by the 
French minister to break through the neutrality that 
had been proclaimed, when, according to John 
Adams, '* ten thousand people in the streets of 
Philadelphia, day after day, threatened to drag 
Washington out of his house, and effect a revolution 
in the government, or compel it to declare in favor 
of the French revolution and against England." 
The second time was when he signed the treaty of 
1795 with Great Britain, which produced a popular 

304 



CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

outburst from one end of the country to the other. 
In neither case did Washington swerve an iota from 
what he thought right, writing, " these are unpleasant 
things, but they must be met with firmness." Eventu- 
ally the people always came back to their leader, 
and Jefferson sighed over the fact tliat "such is the 
popularity of the President that the people will sup- 
port him in whatever he will do or will not do, with- 
out appealing to their own reason or to anything but 
their feelings towards him." 

It is not to be supposed from this that Washing- 
ton was above considering the popular bent, or was 
lacking in political astuteness. John Adams asserted 
that " General Washington, one of the most atten- 
tive men in the world to the manner of doing things, 
owed a great proportion of his celebrity to this cir- 
cumstance," and frequently he is to be found con- 
sidering the popularity or expediency of courses. 
In 1776 he said, *' I have found it of importance 
and highly expedient to yield to many points in fact, 
without seeming to have done it, and this to avoid 
bringing on a too frequent discussion of matters 
which in a political view ought to be kept a little 
behind the curtain, and not to be made too much 
the subjects of disquisition. Time only can eradi- 
cate and overcome customs and prejudices of long 
standing — they must be got the better of by slow 
and gradual advances." 

Elsewhere he wrote, '* In a word, if a man cannot 

act in all respects as he would wish, he must do 

what appears best, under the circumstances he is in. 

This I aim at, however short I may fall of the end ;" 

20 305 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

of a certain measure he thought, " it has, however, 
like many other things in which I have been involved, 
two edges, neither of which can be avoided without 
falling on the other ;" and that even in small things 
he tried to be politic is shown in his journey through 
New England, when he accepted an invitation to a 
large public dinner at Portsmouth, and the next day, 
being at Exeter, he wrote in his diary, ** a jealousy 
subsists between this town (where the Legislature 
alternately sits) and Portsmouth ; which, had I 
known it in time, would have made it necessary to 
have accepted an invitation to a public dinner, but 
my arrangements having been otherwise made, I 
could not" 

Nor was Washington entirely lacking in finesse. 
He offered Patrick Henry a position after having first 
ascertained in a roundabout manner that it would 
be refused, and in many other ways showed that he 
understood good politics. Perhaps the neatest of 
his dodges was made when the French revolutionist 
Volney asked him for a general letter of introduc- 
tion to the American people. This was not, for 
political and personal reasons, a thing Washington 
cared to give, yet he did not choose to refuse, so 
he wrote on a sheet of paper, — 

*'C. Volney 

needs no recommendation from 

Geo. Washington." 

There is a very general belief that success in 
politics and truthfulness are incompatible, yet, as 
already shown, Washington prospered in politics, and 

306 



CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

the Rev. Mason L. Weems is authority for the popu- 
lar statement that at six years of age George could 
not tell a lie. Whether this was so, or whether Mr. 
Weems was drawing on his imagination for his facts, 
it seems probable that Washington partially outgrew 
the disability in his more mature years. 

When trying to win the Indians to the English 
cause in 1754, Washington in his journal states that 
he ** let the young Indians who were in our camp 
know that the French wanted to kill the Half King," 
a diplomatic statement he hardly believed, which the 
writer says **had its desired effect," and which the 
French editor declared to be an ''imposture." In 
this same campaign he was forced to sign a capitula- 
tion which acknowledged that he had been guilty of 
assassination, and this raised such a storm in Virginia 
when it became known that Washington hastened to 
deny all knowledge of the charge hawng been con- 
tained among the articles, and alleged that it had 
not been made clear to him when the paper had 
been translated and read. On the contrary, another 
officer present at the reading states that he refused 
to "sign the Capitulation because they charged us 
with Assasination in it." 

In writing to an Indian agent in 1755, Washington 
was " greatly enraptured" at hearing of his approach, 
dwelt upon the man's "hearty attachment to our 
glorious Cause" and his " Courage of which I have 
had very great proofs." Inclosing a copy of the 
letter to the governor, Washington said, " the letter 
savors a little of flattery &c., &c., but this, I hope is 
justifiable on such an occasion." 

307 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

With his London agent there was a Httle diffi- 
culty in 1 77 1, and Washington objected to a letter 
received " because there is one paragraph in particu- 
lar in it . . . which appears to me to contain an 
implication of my having deviated from the truth." 
A more general charge was Charles Lee's : ** I aver 
that his Excellencies letter was from beginning to 
the end a most abominable lie." 

As a nise de guerre Washington drew up for a spy 
in 1779 a series of false statements as to the position 
and number of his army for him to report to the 
British. And in preparation for the campaign of 
1 78 1 ''much trouble was taken and finesse used to 
misguide and bewilder Sir Henry Clinton by making 
a deceptive provision of ovens, forage and boats in 
his neighborhood." ** Nor were less pains taken to 
deceive our own army," and even ''the highest mili- 
tary as well as civil officers" were deceived at this 
time, not merely that the secret should not leak out, 
but also " for the important purpose of inducing the 
eastern and middle states to make greater exer- 
tions." 

When travelling through the South in 1791, Wash- 
ington entered in his diary, " Having suffered very 
much by the dust yesterday — and finding that parties 
of Horse, & a number of other Gentlemen were in- 
tending to attend me part of the way today, I caused 
their enquiries respecting the time of my setting out, 
to be answered that, I should endeavor to do it be- 
fore eight o'clock; but I did it a Httle after five, 
by which means I avoided the inconveniences above 

mentioned" 

308 



CITIZEN AND OFFICE-HOLDER 

Weld, in his "Travels in America," published that 
" General Washington told me that he never was so 
much annoyed by the mosquitos in any part of 
America as in Skenesborough, for that they used to 
bite through the thickest boot." When this anec- 
dote appeared in print, good old Dr. Dwight, shocked 
at the taradiddle, and fearing its evil influence on 
Washington's fame, spoiled the joke by explaining in 
a book that ** a gentleman of great respectability, 
who was present when General Washington made 
the observation referred to, told me that he said, 
when describing those mosquitoes to Mr. Weld, that 
they * bit through his stockings above the boots.' " 
Whoever invented the explanation should also have 
evolved a type of boots other than those worn by 
Washington, for unfortunately for the story Washing- 
ton's military boots went above his ''small clothes," 
giving not even an inch of stocking for either mos- 
quito or explanation. In 1786, Washington declared 
that " I do not recollect that in the course of my 
life, I ever forfeited my word, or broke a promise 
made to any one," and at another time he wrote, 
*' I never say any thing of a Man that I have the 
smallest scruple of saying to him.'' 

From 1749 till 1784, and from 1789 till 1797, or a 
period of forty years, Washington filled offices of one 
kind or another, and when he died he still held a com- 
mission. Thus, excluding his boyhood, there were 
but seven years of his life in which he was not en- 
gaged in the public service. Even after his retire- 
ment from the Presidency he served on a grand jury, 
and before this he had several times acted as petit 

309 



THE TRUE GEORGE WASHINGTON 

juror. In another way he was a good citizen, for 
when at Mount Vernon he invariably attended the 
election, rain or shine, though it was a ride of ten 
miles to the polling town. 

Both his enemies and his friends bore evidence to 
his honesty. Jefferson said, ** his integrity was most 
pure, his justice the most inflexible I have ever 
known, no motives of interest or consanguinity or 
friendship or hatred, being able to bias his decision. 
He was indeed in every sense of the words, a wise, a 
good, and a great man." Pickering wrote that *'to 
the excellency of his virtues I am not disposed to 
set any limits. All his views were upright, all his 
actions just." Hamilton asserted that **the General 
is a very honest Man ;" and Tilghman spoke of him 
as ** the hones test man that I believe ever adorned 
human nature." 



310 



Index. 



Adams, John, opinion of Wash- 
ington, 256; use of appointing 
power, 36, 304; deal arranged 
by, 285 ; dislike of Washington, 
94, 256 ; quoted, 83, 94, 165, 227, 
256, 286, 303-5. 

, Samuel, opposed to Wash- 
ington, 286, 291, 

Agriculture, Washington's fond- 
ness for, 112. 

Ague, Washington's attacks of, 48, 
50-1, 54. 

Alexander, Frances, 87. 

Alexandria, assemblies at, 184; 
Washington builds in, 121 ; lots 
in, 132. 

Aliquippa, Queen, 88. 

Alton, John, 154-6. 

Ames, Fisher, quoted, 300. 

Appleby school, 16, 60. 

Armstrong, John, quoted, 251. 

Arnold, B., 21, 

Asses, breeding of, 124. 

Aurora, 206-7, 263. 

Bache, B. F., writes against 
Washington, 207-8, 263-4. 

Balls, maternal ancestors of 
Washington, 17, 

Balls, 109, 183-5. 

Bank-stock, holdings of, 135. 

Barbadoes, Washington's visit to, 
23, 48, 88, 192, 199. 

Bard, Dr., quoted, 52. 

Bassett, Burwell, 29, 97. 

, Frances, 28. 

Bath, Virginia, lots in, 132. 



Battle of Brooklyn, a farce, 107. 

Billiards, 199. 

Bishop, Thomas, 155. 

Bland, Mary, 86. 

, T., criticises Washington's 

bow, 174. 

" Blueskm," 195. 

Books, 61-3, 201-5. 

Boston, siege of, 98, 274. 

Boucher, Rev. J., quoted, 60, 
68, 108 ; mentioned, 71. 

Bounties, 130, 281, 287. 

Braddock, Edward, Washington 
and, 18, 49, 216; defeat of, 214, 
265, 271-2 ; march of, 269, 273 ; 
mentioned, 74, 89, 

Brasenose College, Lawrence 
Washington a fellow of, 15. 

Brissot de Warville, quoted, 42. 

British forgeries, 107. 

Brixted Parva, Lawrence Wash- 
ington rector of, 16. 

Broglie, Prince de, quoted, 194, 
247. 

Brooklyn, battle of, 47, 270, 275. 

CALLENDER, James Thomson, 
publications of, 265. 

Calvert, Eleanor, marriage with 
Jack Custis, 31 ; visit to Cam- 
bridge, 32, 107 ; remarriage, 104. 

Cambridge, head-quarters at, 98 ; 
mentioned, 32, 52. 

Campbell, A., portrait of Wash- 
ington by, 47. 

Cancer, George Washington's, 54; 
Mary Washington's, 21. 



3" 



INDEX 



Capital. See Washington City. 

Cards, 198. 

Carlyle, Washington's friend- 
ship for, 209. 

, Major, 294. 

, Sally, 91. 

Carroll, Charles, 222. 

Cary, Mary, 85. 

" Cato," 201. 

" Centinel," 205. 

Charity, Washington's, 160-2, 
235-6. 

Charleston, ladies of, visit Wash- 
ington, no; jackass at, 125. 

Chastellux, Marquis de, 
quoted, 41, 168, 195 ; marriage 
of, 103. 

Children and Washington, 235-7. 

Christ Church, 78, 82. 

Christianity, Washington's view 
of, 76-83. 

Clark, Abraham, opinion of 
Washington, 257. 

Clinton, George, Washington's 
investment with, 132. 

, Sir H., 308 ; Washington's 

relations with, 243. 

Clothes, Washington's taste in, 
186. 

Clubs, Washington's share in, 164. 

Cobb, David, quoted, 56 ; at York- 
town, 270. 

COBBETT, William, quoted, 263. 

Colds, Washington's treatment of, 
56,58. 

Commissariat, 283. 

Congress, Continental, Washing- 
ton's relations with, 248-9, 256- 
7 ; jealousy of Washington and 
the army, 286-7 ; endeavors to 
insult Washington, 288 ; part in 
the Conway cabal, 288-290 ; 
Washington's election to, 298 ; 
Washington in, 301. 

Connecticut troops, misconduct of. 



" Conotocarius," Indian name fof 
Washington, 16, 212. 

Continental army, 80 ; sickness of, 
284; farewell to, 291 ; small-pox 
in, 55; threatened mutiny of, 
48. 56. 

Conway Cabal, 215, 220, 222, 231, 
245-52, 289-90. 

Conway, Thomas, Washington's 
relations with, 248-50, 252. 

Corbin, Richard, 218. 

CORNWALLIS, Lord, Washing- 
ton's relations with, 244-5. 

Craigie house, 98. 

Craik, Dr. James, Washington's 
friendship for, 215 ; bleeds Wash- 
ington, 59. 

CULPEPER, Lord, 113, 210. 

Culpeper County, 293. 

CusTis, Eleanor P., 23, 33; mar- 
riage to L. Lewis, 34; quoted, 
82, 179. 

, G. W. P., education, 34, 

72; quoted, 55, 193; acts, 202. 

, John Parke, relations with 

Washington, 30, 96-7 ; educa- 
tion, 71. 

, Martha. See Washington, 

Martha. 

, Martha (" Patsy"), relations 

of Washington with, 29, 96 ; 
death, 96; treatment of, 55; 
property, 94. 

property, 32, 94, 131, 203, 

Dancing, Washington's fondness 

of, 183-5. 
Dandridge, Bartholomew, 29. 
, Martha. See Washington, 

Martha. 

, Mrs. 29, 

Deane, Silas, quoted, 45. 
De Butts, Lawrence, 76. 
Democratic criticism of Washing- 

ington, 174. 
Dent, Elizabeth, 90. 



312 



INDEX 



Dick, Dr., quoted, 45. 

Dismal Swamp Company, 131. 

Distillery at Mount Vernon, 123. 

District of Columbia, 73. 

Dogs, 197. 

DuANE, William, writes against 

Washington, 264. 
Duelling, Washington's views on, 

254; threatened, 240. 
DUER, W. A., quoted, 202. 
Dumas, M., quoted, 236. 
Dun LAP, W., quoted, 200. 
Duquesne, Fort, 269. 

" Eltham," 29, 32. 

Exeter, Bishop of. Sermons, 61. 



Fairfax, Ann, 210. 

• , Bryan, Lord, 210. 

— :-, George William, 89, 211. 

, Sally, 90-1, 210, 

, Thomas, Lord, 130, 210. 

, William, 294. 

Fairfax County, 298. 

Fairfax Parish, tj. 

Farewell Address, 73 ; drafting of, 
70-1. 

Fauntleroy, Betsy, 86, 88; Wil- 
liam, 88. 

Federal city. See Washington 
City. 

Fees, Washington's gifts of, 156, 

Fertilization, Washington's value 
of, 118. 

Fish, Washington's fondness of, 

193- 
Fishery at Mount Vernon, 123. 
Fishing, 198. 
Flour, Washington's pride in his, 

122. 
Forged letters, 150; authorship 

of, 260 ; Bache reprints, 263. 
Fort Necessity, 213, 273. 
Fox hunting, 196. 
Franklin, B., quoted, 279. 



Frederick County, Washington 

stands for, 295. 
Fredericksburg, 61 ; residence of 

Mary Washington, 18, 21. 
French and Indian War, 268, 270, 

273, 278. 
French language, Washington on, 

65, 71-2. 
Freneau, p., writes against 

Washington, 206-7, 262. 

Gage, Thomas, relations with 
Washington, 242. 

Gates, Horatio, Washington's 
relations with, 245-8, 252 ; men- 
tioned, 257. 

General orders, quotations from, 

79. 

Genet episode, 304. 

Genn, James, Washington learns 
surveying from, 74. 

Germantown, battle of, 270, 275. 

Gerry, Elbridge, attitude towards 
Washington, 257. 

Gibbons, Mary, scandal concern- 
ing, 106. 

Gordon, Rev. W,, quoted, 271. 

Great Britain, Washington's atti- 
tude towards, 301. 

Green, Rev. Charles, 76. 

Greene, N., friendship with 
Washington, 230; quoted, 9, 
184, 251, 271, 277, 290. 

Grymes, Lucy, 86. 



Half-King, 273. 

Hamilton, A., mentioned, 64. 

66, 69-70; quoted, 76, 175, 179, 

262, 27s, 290, 310 ; Washington's 

relations with, 222-9. 
Harrison, Benjamin, 219; letter 

of, 107 ; asks office, 303. 

, R. H., 66. 

Henry Eighth grants lands to 

Washingtons, 15. 



313 



INDEX 



Henry, Patrick, quoted, 83 ; men- 
tioned, 219, 252; offered office, 
306. 

Herring, sales of, 123. 

Hickey plot, 105. 

Horses, stud at Mount Vernon, 

123, 195- 

Houdon bust, 189. 

Howe, Lord, and Sir William, 
Washington's relations with, 
242-3, 278. 

Humphreys, D., quoted, 48, 194, 
224, 276; relations with Wash- 
ington, 224. 

Hunter, J., quoted, 195. 

Hunting, 196. 

Independence, Washington on, 
302. 

Indians, 16, 88, 212; Washing- 
ton's diplomacy with, 307. 

James River Land Company, 
Washington's interest in, 136. 

Jay treaty, 304. 

Jefferson, Thomas, Washing- 
ton's relations with, 258 ; opinion 
of Washington, 260, 310 ; helps 
Freneau, 263 ; quoted, 36, 45, 
57, 64. 81, 83, 175. 179. 195. 206, 
263, 269, 272, 278, 298, 305, 310; 
mentioned, 69, 231. 

Jones, Gabriel, 296. 

Kenmore House, 22. 
Knox, Henry, 184, 190 ; relations 
with Washington, 229. 

Lafayette, Marquis de, 27; 

Washington's relations with, 

231-5 ; quoted, 260. 

, G. W., 235. 

. , Virginia, 235. 

Land bounties, 130. 

■ companies, 131. 

Latin, Washington's knowledge 

of, 63. 



Laurens, John, Washington's re- 
lations with, 222; quoted, 46, 
167, 248-9, 288. 

Lawrence, Nathaniel, quoted, 

45. 195. 
Lawsuits, Washington's dislike of, 

133. 

Lear, T., friendship for, 238; 
quoted, 45, 58-9, 152, 208, 238-9, 
272. 

Lee, Charles, Washington's rela- 
tions with, 253-s ; libels Wash- 
ington, 108, 222; quoted, 242, 
271, 277. 

, Henry, friendship for Wash- 
ington, 230-1 ; anecdote of, 
272 ; warns Washington of Jef- 
ferson's conduct, 258. 

, R. H., opinion of Washing- 
ton, 257 ; re-election of, 291. 

, William, Washington's body- 
servant, 150-2, 192, 195. 

Lewis, Elizabeth, 21, 194. 

, Fielding, 18, 

, , Jr., 22. 

, Howell, 22. 

, Lewis, 23, 34. 

, Robert, 23. 

Lexington, battle of, 268. 

Liveried servants, 155, 166, 173, 
265. 

Lotteries, Washington's liking for, 
135. 238. 

LOVELL, John, opinion of Wash- 
ington, 256; quoted, 288. 

" Lowland Beauty," 86, 88. 

Lynch, Thomas, quoted, 268. 

McHenry, James, 71. 
Mcknight, Dr. C, quoted, 53. 
Maclay, W., quoted, 40, 45, 53, 

57, 171-2, 201, 300. 
Madison, James, relations with 

Washington, 208. 258 ; quoted, 

83, 227, 260 ; drafts papers, 69- 

70. 



3H 



INDEX 



•' Magnolia," 195. 

Marshall, J., quoted, 291. 

Marye, Rev, T., Washington's 
teaclier, 63. 

Mason, George, quoted, 254. 

Massaciiusetts, ditficulties of, 285- 
6; " slam" at officers of, 283. 

Massey, Rev. Lee, quoted, 77. 

Mather's Young Man's Com- 
pafiion, 6i, 74, 84. 

Matrimony, Washington's views 
on, 103, 

Medical knowledge of Washing- 
ton, 55 ; treatment of last illness, 
58. 

Medicine, Washington's aversion 
to, 55- 

Mercer, George, quoted, 38, 57. 

Mifflin, Thomas, Washington's 
relations with, 250-2 ; men- 
tioned, 257. 

Military Company of Adventurers, 

131- 

science, books on, 204; 

Washington's knowledge of, 
278. 

Militia, evils of, 280-2. 

" Minutes of the Trial," 105: au- 
thority of, 106, 

Mississippi Company, 131. 

Monmouth, battle of, 47, 232, 253- 
4, 270-1, 276-7; allusions to, 
18, 22, 25, 31, 44, 51, 54, 60, 67, 
76, 78, 87, 89, 92, 94-5, 97, 99- 
100, 102, 113, 210, 215, 224, 232, 
298, 310. 

Morris, Gouverneur, quoted, 81 ; 
friendship with, 220. 

, Robert, 100, 219. 

, Roger, 90. 

Mount Vernon, boyhood home of 
Washington, 17, 23, 209; divi- 
sion of estate by will, 23, 27, 34; 
invitation to visit, 19, 23, 28-9, 
31, 37, 223, 225, 228 ; history of, 
23, 113-6; name, 60, 114; house 



at, 114'; grounds, 114; additions 
to land, 1 14-6, 134; manage- 
ment of, 116 ; absence of Wash- 
ington from, 116; system at, 
116, 120: work at, 121; fishery 
of, 123; distillery at, 123; stud 
stable of, 123-5 I ^ive stock of, 
123-7 ; profits of, 127-8 ; desire 
to rent farms of, 128; Washing- 
ton's superintendence of, 128-9; 
Washington's life at, 128, 163, 
176-8 ; slaves at, 138-40, 142-3, 
148-9, 150, 152 ; overseers of, 
157-9, 162; British visit to, 176; 
hunting at, 196 ; shooting at, 
197. 

MOYLAN, S., 66. 

Muse, George, relations with 

Washington, 240-1. 
Music, Washington's fondness of, 

33. 75. 

" Nelson," 95. 

Nepotism, Washington's views 
on, 36, 303. 

Newburg, threatened revolt of 
army at, 48, 56. 

New England, opposition to Wash- 
ington, 248 ; jealousy of, 285-6; 
arranges deal, 286, 289-90; 
journey in, 237; conduct of 
troops, 271, 281 ; officers, 282, 
286. 

New Jersey troops, desertion of, 
280-81, 

New York, Washington's visit to, 
90; borrows money for journey 
to, 134; head-quarters at, 90; 
warfare at, iii, 271 ; Minutes of 
the Trial in, 105 ; proposed 
attack on, 276 ; farewell to army 
at, 291 ; presidential house at, 
170. 

Newspapers, 205. 

Nuts, Washington's fondness for, 
194. 



3»5 



INDEX 



Oaths, Washington's use of, 206, 

261, 272. 
Office-seekers, 36, 263, 266, 282, 

303. 
Ohio, march to, 93 ; journey to, 

188, 212. 216; Journal, 68. 
Ohio Company, 131. 
Old Soldier, 199-200. 

Paine, Thomas, relations with 
Washington, 266, 

Paper money, depreciation of, 131. 

Pension of Mary Washington, 19. 

Peyroney, Chevaher, 213, 

Philadelphia, visit to, 100; fever 
at, 102, 151 ; proposed attack 
on, 275 ; capture of, 278-9 ; 
Presidential house in, 170; 
Washington's attempted pur- 
chase near, 132. 

Philipse, Mary, 90, 92. 

Pickering, Timothy, quoted, 
64, 66, 69, 71, 165-6, 182, 276, 

303. 310- 
Pohick Church, 76-8. 
Potomac Canal Company, 54, 73, 

136, 247, 
Presidency, Washington in the, 

303; duties of, 53; hospitality 

of, 170. 
Privateer, Washington tries to 

secure share in, 135. 
Purleigh. Lawrence Washington, 

rector of, 15. 

Raffles, Washington's liking for, 

135- 

Ramsay, W., 214. 

Randolph, Edmund, Washing- 
ton's relations with, 260 ; quoted, 
301. 

■ , John, forges letters, 260. 

Reed, Joseph, sends print to 
Washington, 47 ; relations with 
Washington, 220-2 ; quoted, 
108, 277. 



Revolution, Washington's service 
in, 267, 292. 

Robin, Abbe, quoted, 41. 

Robinson, Beverly, 90, 218. 

, John, 218, 299. 

Rochambeau, Count, 244. 

Ross, James, quoted, 261. 

" Royal Gift," jackass, 124. 

Rules of civility, 55, 61, 138. 

Rush, Benjamin, anonymous let- 
ter of, 215 ; Washington's rela- 
tions with, 251-2 ; quoted, 227, 

Rutledge, E., 220. 

St. Clair's defeat, 272. 
St. Paul's Church, 78. 
Sargent, J. D., opinion of Wash- 
ington, 257. 
Scott, Charles, quoted, 271. 
Servants, Washington's, 138, 160. 
Shad, sales of, 123. 
Sharpless portrait, 57. 
Sheep at Mount Vernon, 126. 
Shooting, 197. 
Skenesborough, mosquitoes at, 

309. 

Slavery, Washington's views on, 
108, 115, 153-4. 

Slaves, Washington's, 138 ; run- 
away, 139-41 ; carried off by 
British, 141 ; sickness, 141-4 ; 
laziness, 145, 147 ; punishment, 
145-6 ; rations of, 147 ; thieving 
by, 148. 

Small-pox, 55; Washington's at- 
tack of, 40, 49. 

Smith, Rev. W., quoted, 273. 

Southern tour, 109, 175, 308. 

Spain, king of, gift of jackass to 
Washington, 124. 

Spearing, Ann, 90. 

Stearn, Samuel, quoted, 45, 193. 

Stewart, R., 214. 

Stuart, Gilbert, opinion on 
Washington's face, 44 ; quoted, 
272. 



316 



INDEX 



Stuart portrait, 57, 237. 

Stud stable at Mount Vernon, 123. 

Sullivan, John, quoted, 290. 

, W., quoted, 40, 109, 173, 190. 

Sunday, Washington's observance 

of, 54, 78-81. 
SWEARINGEN, Thomas, 296-7. 

Taverns, Washington's view of, 

22, 158, 295. 
Tea, Washington's fondness for, 

182. 
Thacher, Dr. James, quoted, 39, 

184. 
Theatre, 199-202. 
Thornton, Edward, quoted, 43, 

247. 
TiLGHMAN, Tench, Washington's 

relations with, 222 ; quoted, 281, 

310. 
Tobacco, Washington's crop of, 

117-8. 
Trenton, battle of, 270, 275. 
Trumbull, Jonathan, wishes 

Washington removed, 256. 
Truro Parish, 76-7- 

University, National, Washing- 
ton's wish for, 72-3. 

Valley Forge, 99. 

Van Braam, J., 212. 

Varick, Richard, 193. 

Vernon, Admiral E., Mount Ver- 
non named after, 114. 

Virginia, social life of, 164; clubs, 
164; British invasion of, 176, 
convention, 268 ; land bounties, 
130 ; elections, 296-8 ; agricul- 
tural system of, 117; deal with 
New England, 286, 289-90 ; 
Washington's office-holding in, 
293-8 ; estates, Washington's 
opinion of, 129. 

•- — Regiment, drunkenness of, 
295. 



Volney, C, Washington's diplo« 
macy with, 306. 

Wads WORTH, J., quoted, 276. 

" Wakefield," 23, 60. 

Walpole grant, 131. 

Wansey, H., quoted, 44. 

Warm Springs, visit to, 30, 50. 

Washington, Augustine, 16, 60, 
63,74, 113. 138,294. 

, Augustine (Jr.), 23-4. 

, Bushrod, 26, 37 ; letter to, 36. 

, Charles, 27. 

, Elizabeth (Betty). See 

Fielding. 

, Frances, 28, loi. 

, George, ancestors of, 15 j 

birth of, 17 ; his resemblance to 
the Balls, 17 ; relations with his 
mother, 17 ; his dislike of pub- 
lic recompense, 19 ; views on 
public office, 36, 303-4; finan- 
cial help to relatives, 19, 21, 22, 
23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29 ; will of, 24, 
27, 28, 29, 37, 62, 73, 102, 152, 
156, 209, 216 ; views on drinking, 
32, 158, 164, 178, 295-6; loans, 
22, 24, 29, 214 ; care of Custis 
property, 32-3 ; adoption of 
Custis children, 32-3 ; physique, 
38 ; weight, 38, 45 ; eyes, 39, 40, 
43, 44, 45, 46, 56; hair, 39, 40; 
teeth, 39, 57; nose, 39, 40, 42; 
height, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 45; 
mouth, 39, 42, 43; expression, 

39, 42, 45, 46 ; gracefulness, 39, 

40, 45, 195 ; complexion, 39, 40, 
43; pock-marked, 40; modesty, 
42, 299-300 ; manners, 39 ; por- 
traits of, 42, 43, 45, 46, 57; 
strength, 38-45, 47 ; illnesses of, 
48-59, 92, 198, 234 ; his last, 
59, 102, 216, 238 ; medicine, his 
dislike of, 55 ; fall of, 54 ; hear- 
ii^g. 57; education. 60; hand- 
writing, 61-2; speliing, 62-3; 



3>; 



INDEX 



surveyor, 63, 74, 130, 136, 163, 
191-2, 210, 293 ; secretaries of, 
66, 127 ; journal to the Ohio, 
68; messages, 69; farewell ad- 
dress, 70, 73 ; languages, 63, 65, 
71-2; music, 33, 75; reading, 
76, 117, 202; religion, 76-83; 
church attendance, 78 ; Sunday 
conduct, 78-9, 82 ; hunting, 79, 
196-7 ; tolerance, 79-81 ; love 
affairs, 85-6, 89-90, 92 ; poetry, 
86-7 ; Barbadoes, visit to, 23, 48, 
89, 192, 199 ; Ohio, mission to, 68, 
88, 188, 212, 216 ; Boston, visit 
to, (1756) 90; New York, visit 
to, 90, (1773) 242 ; marriage, 93 ; 
appointed commander-in-chief, 
97, 285-6, 289 ; matrimony, his 
views on, 103 ; morality, 105- 
8 ; forged letters, 107, 150, 260, 
263 ; agriculture, fondness for, 
112; system, 116-20; study of, 
117, 204; coat-of-arms of, 112; 
as farmer, 112, 117, 128 ; land 
purchases of, 114-6, 130, 131, 
132, 133 ; invents a plow, 120 ; 
humor, 124, 179, 244 ; income, 
127; accounts, 127; property 
of, 113-37; bounty lands of, 
130 ; investments in land com- 
panies, 131 ; borrower, 132, 134; 
speculation, liking for, 135 ; lot- 
teries, liking for, 135, 238 ; raf- 
fles, liking for, 135 ; interest in 
Potomac Canal Company, 136 ; 
wealth of, 137 ; slaves of, 138-53 ; 
care of, 142-4, 149-50, 152 ; 
slavery, views on, 108, 115, 138- 
53 ; charity, 160-2, 214-5, 230, 
235 ; social life, 163 ; head- 
quarters life, 165-70 ; dinners, 
171-4 ; levees, 173-4, 177-8 ; 
bows, 174 ; ceremony, hatred of, 
174-5 I conversation, 179 ; tea, 
liking for, 182 ; dancing, fond- 
ness of, 183-5 ; staff, 165, 220 ; 



simple habits, 165-7 ; dress of, 
177, 186-90 ; Rules of CiviUty, 
5Sf 65, 138 ; neatness of, 191 ; 
food, 193-4 ; horsemanship, 
194 ; fishing, fondness for, 197 ; 
card-playing, 198 ; theatre, fond- 
ness for, 199-201 ; embarrass- 
ment, 201, 209 ; library of, 204 ; 
newspapers, 205-8, 263 ; abuse, 
sensitiveness to, 206-8, 227; 
friendships of, 209-33 '< god- 
father, 210; pall-bearer, 210; 
Indian friends, 212, 307 ; name, 
212 ; assassin, 213, 307 ; temper, 
206, 217, 226, 261, 271-2 ; quar- 
rel of Hamilton with, 226 ; 
children, relations with, 235-8 ; 
enemies, 240 ; duelling and, 
240, 254; drinks toasts, 244; 
intrigues against, 245-66 ; at- 
tacks on, 248, 255, 261, 264-6; 
insulted, 249, 288 ; Presidency, 
258, 300, 303 ; judgment, 260 ; 
liveried servants of, 155, 166, 
173. 265 ; courage of, 269 ; 
swears, 206, 261, 272; Fabian 
policy, 273-6, 288 ; rashness 
of, 273-6 ; indecision of, 277 ; 
lack of military knowledge, 
278 ; generalship, 273-9, 3^3 '> 
severity to soldiers, 282 ; rela- 
tions with Continental Congress, 
284 ; New England, dislike of, 
286-7 ; farewell to army, 291 ; 
adjutant of Virginia. 294; bur- 
gess, 294-8 ; stands for Freder- 
ick County, 295 ; elected, 297 ; 
election expenses of, 297-8 ; 
drafts law, 298 ; inability to 
make speeches, 299-301 ; stage 
fright, 299-300; inauguration, 
300; in the Continental Con- 
gress, 301 ; attitude towards 
Great Britain, 302; threatened, 
303 ; popularity of, 297, 305 ; 
diplomacy of, 305-6; truthful- 



318 



INDEX 



ness, 307-9 ; serves on jury, 309 ; 
attends elections, 309 ; honesty, 
310. 

, George Augustine, 27, loi, 

196. 

, Harriot, 25. 

, John, 13, 16, 268, 294. 

, John Augustine, 26, 27, 37, 

98, 294. 

, Lawrence, Rev. (ist), 16, 

, Lawrence (2d), 16, 113. 

, Lawrence, Major (3d), 23, 

60, 1 13-4, 131, 204, 268, 294, 

— — , Lawrence, of Chotanck (4th), 
209. 

, Lund, 196, 

•■' Martha, sickness of, 76 ; 

meets Washington, 92 ; engaged, 
92 ; Washington's letters to, 93, 
97 ; marriage, 93 ; character, 93, 
loi ; Washington's fondness for, 
94; wealth, 94, 131; clothing, 
95 ; housekeeper for, 95 ; or- 
thography, 93, 96 ; children, 96 ; 
visitr. to head-quarters, 98, 169 ; 
social hfe. loo-i, 169, 185 ; 
mentioned, 108-9, 208 ; dower 
slaves, 139, 152-3 ; drafts of let- 
ters for, 181; receptions, loi, 
109. 

, Mary (Ball), 17-21, 74, 138. 



, Mildred, 113, 

, Robert, 209, 

, Samuel, 24. 

, Thornton, 24. 

Washington City, 73, 75, 121, 132, 

238. 
Watson, Elkanah, quoted, 56. 
Wayne, Anthony, quoted, 277, 
Weaving at Mount Vernon, 122. 
Wfems, M. L., quoted, 307. 
Weld, Isaac, quoted, 44, 309. 
Wheat, Washington's production 

of, 117. 
Whiskey, distilling of, at Mount 

Vernon, 123. 
White, Rev. W., quoted, 82. 
William and Mary College, 65. 
Williamsburg, 68, 93, 94; lots in, 

132 ; Washington goes to, for 

medical advice, 50, 92. 
"Williams, William, wishes Wash- 
ington removed, 256. 
Willing, Ann, quoted, 273. 
Winchester, lots in, 132 ; election 

at, 295. 298. 
WOLCOTT, Oliver, 71. 
Wood, John, 296-7. 



Yorktown, siege of, 32, 47, 223-4, 
227, 232, 244, 270, 276, 279. 



THE END. 



319 



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